Tests show China's earthquake monitoring satellite working well

Zhang Shuai China Plus/Xinhua Published: 2018-05-13 14:02:38
Comment
Share
Share this with Close
Messenger Messenger Pinterest LinkedIn

China's first seismo-electromagnetic satellite, Zhangheng-1, has completed half of its in-orbit tests, and the results have generally met with expectations, reports Xinhua News Agency.

China launches its first seismo-electromagnetic satellite, known as Zhangheng 1 in Chinese, into a sun-synchronous orbit from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in northwest China's Gobi Desert, Feb. 2, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua/Wang Jiangbo]

China launches its first seismo-electromagnetic satellite, known as Zhangheng 1 in Chinese, into a sun-synchronous orbit from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in northwest China's Gobi Desert, Feb. 2, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua/Wang Jiangbo]

The news was announced during the International Conference for the Decade Memory of the Wenchuan Earthquake and the Fourth International Conference on Continental Earthquakes, which is being held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

Zhangheng 1 was launched into a sun-synchronous orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in February. The satellite was designed to study seismic precursors, which might help with the establishment of a future ground-space earthquake monitoring and forecasting network.

Zhangheng-1 has generated 8.22 terabytes of data since it went into orbit. The data indicates that the satellite has been able to identify the distribution of the Earth's geomagnetic field and ionosphere, according to Hu Chunfeng, head of the Science and Technology Department of the China Earthquake Administration.

Hu said that the China Earthquake Administration will work closely with the China National Space Administration to conduct further tests of the satellite and to study the data that it generates.

In addition to the collection of data related to earthquakes, Zhangheng-1 will collect data for weather forecasts, aerospace and navigation communications, and space physics and geophysics research.

Related stories

Share this story on

Most Popular