(Peoples Daily Online)11:14, July 11, 2019
Photo taken on Dec. 29, 2015 shows the Long March-3B carrier rocket is launched with the Gaofen-4 Satellite in Xichang of southwest Chinas Sichuan Province. (Xinhua/Xue Yubin)
China has sent over 200 satellites into space and will launch nearly 100 more by 2025, an official with the China National Space Administration said on July 9.
In recent years, China has improved its space technologies and industries, which prepares the country to accelerate its space economy, said Yu Qi, deputy director of the International Cooperation Department of the China National Space Administration, at the World Geospatial Developers Conference held in Beijing July 9.
Up to now, the Long March carrier rocket series has completed 307 missions, sending over 400 spacecrafts into target orbit.
Last year, Chinas space launches hit a record high. 39 launch missions were carried out, accounting for more than one-third of the world鈥檚 total.
China also launched the Change-4 probe last year, which made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon. Chinas space technology is gradually maturing and expanding into more fields, contributing to the development of the national economy, Yu said.
Thanks to the China-initiated high-resolution earth observation project in 2010, a high-resolution earth observation system based on collected data from China鈥檚 Gaofen earth observation satellites was made possible.
The satellites have provided data for more than 20 industries, including environmental protection, forestry, and agriculture industries.
Yu said that China will launch the Gaofen-7 at the end of this year and then focus on the application of the system.