China launches new radar satellite for disaster mitigation (video)

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S-SAR02 joins a similar satellite in a polar orbit.

China launched a new radar remote sensing satellite for environmental monitoring on Tuesday (Aug. 8).

The successful launch carried the Huanjing Jianzai-2F, or S-SAR02, synthetic aperture radar satellite for emergency management and environment monitoring, according to China's space authorities.

Related: China's Long March rocket family: History and photos

A Long March 2C rocket carrying the S-SAR02 satellite lifts off from Taiyuan in North China on Aug. 8, 2023. (Image credit: Ourspace)

The satellite entered into a sun-synchronous orbit, meaning the it orbits over the poles and passes over the same region of Earth's surface at roughly the same local solar time during each pass.

S-SAR02 will form an in-orbit network with S-SAR01, which launched in October 2022. Both carry large deployable truss antennas and operate in the S-band, or the microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum which space frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz. The satellites are able to produce images even during cloudy and rainy weather, filling gaps in the coverage of optical satellites.

Together, the duo will form a preliminary satellite constellation for disaster mitigation, according to Chinese state media outlet Xinhua. Both the S-SAR01 and S-SAR02 satellites launched at 2253 GMT on their respective launch days.

The satellite was built by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), the main spacecraft maker under China's state-owned main space contractor, CASC. The Long March 2C rocket was also made by CASC.

The launch was China's 33rd of the year. CASC says it plans to launch more than 200 spacecraft across 2023.

Andrew Jones
Andrew Jones
Contributing Writer

Andrew is a freelance space journalist with a focus on reporting on China's rapidly growing space sector. He began writing for Space.com in 2019 and writes for SpaceNews, IEEE Spectrum, National Geographic, Sky & Telescope, New Scientist and others. Andrew first caught the space bug when, as a youngster, he saw Voyager images of other worlds in our solar system for the first time. Away from space, Andrew enjoys trail running in the forests of Finland. You can follow him on Twitter @AJ_FI.