A LM-4B Launched China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellite into Orbit

At 11:22 Beijing time on December 20,2019,liftoff of a LM-4B launch vehicle took place at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center,deploying into orbit 9 satellites,including the China-Brazil Earth resource satellite-04A (CBERS-04A)and other 8 satellites.

CBERS-04A is the sixth satellite under the Earth resource satellite cooperation program between China and Brazil.It was jointly developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST)and the National Institute for Space Research of Brazil.The satellite is composed of 14 sub-systems.China and Brazil are responsible for the development of 7 sub-systems respectively among which the wide-band panchromatic multi-spectral camera was developed by CAST,and the multi-spectral camera and the wide-field camera were developed by the National Institute for Space Research of Brazil.

CBERS-04A is being transferedPhoto:SUN Gongming

Two space-based network experimental satellites Yuheng (front)and Shuntian (back)piggybacked on the LM-4B carrier rocketPhoto:SAST

Following the remote sensing data and applications of the CBERS-01 satellite,the satellite is to meet the needs of Chinese and Brazilian users for land and resource investigation,evaluation,planning,testing and emergency management,crop yield estimation,environmental protection and testing,urban planning and other areas,deepening the South-South cooperation.

The other 8 satellites which were launched into orbit by the same carrier rocket,included a wide-range multispectral remote sensing microsatellite donated to Ethiopia,the TianQin-1 technological experiment satellite,a Brazil small satellite and others.

The microsatellite donated to Ethiopia was developed by the DFH Satellite Co.,Ltd.under CAST.The microsatellite,weighing about 65 kg with a design life of two years,is Ethiopia’s first satellite.It is mainly used to obtain remote sensing data for agriculture,forestry,water conservation,as well as disaster prevention and mitigation,supporting Ethiopia’s climate change analysis.

The TianQin-1 technological experiment satellite was jointly designed and developed by the Sun Yat-sen University,DFH Satellite Co.,Ltd.and Huazhong University of Science and Technology.It is mainly used for in-orbit verification of TianQin Project’s key technology,space gravitational wave detection and inversion of Earth’s long wave gravitational field model.

As for the Brazilian small satellite,its development was initiated by the Agencia Espacial Brasileira and was carried out by the University of Santa Catarina.Its development was intended to encourage students to participate in space research and improve Brazilian colleges’ capacity for scientific research.

The carrier rocket,a three-stage normal temperature liquid launch vehicle also developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST),is capable of launching various kinds of satellites with different orbit requirements.It can also send several satellites aloft at one time.

This was the 322nd flight of the LM series launch vehicle.