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China To Launch A New Weather Satellite In Autumn
Beijing, China (XNA) Jan 31, 2007 China is likely to launch a new polar-orbiting meteorological satellite, Fengyun-3 (FY-3), this autumn to improve its global weather monitoring capacity, the China News Service reported. The satellite, which is developed and manufactured by the Shanghai Aerospace Administration, is China's second generation of solar-synchronous weather satellite. The FY-3 weighed more than 2.4 tons, triple the weight of FY-1 satellite, Gao Huoshan, general director of the FY-3 research team, was quoted as saying. The new satellite was equipped with 11 monitoring devices, which were far more sensitive than those of the FY-1, China's first generation of solar-synchronous satellite, Gao said. He said the satellite would be able to detect meteorological changes more accurately and send back high-resolution images. Once launched, the FY-3 would do a complete polar orbit every 102 minutes. It would replace the FY-1D, which was launched in May 2002, and form a twin-star observation system with the FY-2D. The FY-2D, a geostationary orbit meteorological satellite, was launched on Dec. 8, 2006, to provide better weather forecast services for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The FY-3 can observe global meteorological and environmental changes around the clock and will be used for weather forecasting and disaster prevention. The China Meteorological Administration has announced earlier that China will launch another 22 meteorological satellites by 2020, including four more from the Fengyun-2 series, 12 from the Fengyun-3 series and six from Fengyun-4 series. Source: Xinhua News Agency Related Links Weather News at TerraDaily.com 
New Air Force Environmental Satellite Begins Operation
Vandenberg AFB CA (SPX) Jan 30, 2007The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F-17 Block 5D-3 spacecraft, built under contract for the U.S. Air Force by Lockheed Martin, has been turned over to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for operational use worldwide. The ceremony was held at the Air Force Weather Agency at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Neb., which is the primary user of the satellite data within the United States. |
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