China launches new satellite for high-precision greenhouse gas monitoring

China on Friday launched a new satellite for high-precision greenhouse gas detection from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwest.

A Long March-4C rocket blasted off at 12:10 p.m. (Beijing Time) carrying the satellite into a preset orbit.

Both the rocket and satellite are developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology.

The satellite is equipped with five advanced instruments, including an atmospheric detection lidar, a wide-spectrum hyperspectral greenhouse gas monitor, ultraviolet and infrared hyperspectral atmospheric composition sensors, and a cloud and aerosol imager. 

These capabilities enable China to achieve two world's firsts – the first combined active and passive monitoring of greenhouse gases, allowing high-precision, wide-spectrum global observation, and the first imaging system to synchronously observe both nadir and limb directions, capturing horizontal and vertical distributions of atmospheric components and improving the efficiency of three-dimensional atmospheric monitoring.

Orbiting at about 700 kilometers in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), the satellite constructs a space-based environmental monitoring platform that integrates active laser, ultraviolet, visible light and infrared instruments, which will significantly enhance China's high-precision monitoring capabilities for greenhouse gases, pollutants and aerosols, providing technical support for global climate change research, energy saving and emission reduction, environmental diplomacy and compliance, as well as pollution prevention and control.

The Long March-4C rocket is a three-stage, liquid-fueled carrier rocket capable of launching various types of satellites with different orbital requirements. It has a payload capacity of 3 tonnes to a 700-kilometer SSO, and supports all-weather, all-time launches.

The launch marks the 638th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.