China successfully launches second weather satellite

BEIJING: China on Friday successfully launched its most sophisticated geostationary orbit meteorological satellite which will allow 24-hour monitoring of weather changes.

The Fengyun-2D (FY-2D) satellite was launched into the target orbit at 6.23 am aboard a Long March-3A carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The launch came after China admitted on November 28 that its space programme had suffered a setback with its new generation 'SinoSat-2' communication satellite, put in space a month ago, becoming defunct due to technical glitches.

The second satellite in the Fengyun series separated from the rocket about 24 minutes after lift-off and then successfully entered the geosynchronous transfer orbit.

The 1.39-tonne satellite will station at 86.5 degrees east longitude right above the equator.

The FY-2D, developed and manufactured by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology affiliated to the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp., can observe weather changes round-the-clock and will be helpful during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

It is capable of carrying out infrared nephanalysis of the form and structure of clouds and can also analyse data about visible daytime light.