China is creating a group of commercial remote sensing satellites, which will include more than 100 devices, Chinese newspaper China Daily reported.
Chinese satellite Internet company PIESAT told the publication that the system, which currently includes 12 satellites, had started operating on Monday, December 23.
The system was named Nuwa in honor of the goddess from ancient Chinese mythology.
It is expected that the Nuwa constellation would comprise at least 20 satellites by 2025, with plans to increase their number to 114 in the future.
According to the newspaper, the satellite constellation provides global coverage of the planet, including in the polar and equatorial regions, and can “see” through clouds and rain, thereby providing all-weather continuous Earth sensing with an imaging resolution of up to 1 metre.
The satellites, in particular, can provide data for flood control, water use monitoring, construction safety, agricultural supervision and ocean observation.
On December 17, China successfully launched four PIESAT-2 Earth remote sensing satellites into orbit, joining eight satellites that were launched earlier.
