China launches 5 new satellites for ‘smart transportation systems’

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) – China launched five new satellites on Monday for “smart transportation security system,” state-run media reported.

According to the CGTN broadcaster, the China National Space Administration said the Kuaizhou-1A rocket carrying the satellites was launched at 1:32 p.m. local time (1732GMT) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the Sichuan province of Southwest China.

Developed by Beijing HEAD Aerospace Technology, the satellites will be used mainly for "integrated transportation security system of land, sea, air and space."

This launch marks the 27th mission of the Kuaizhou-1A series.

On Sunday, China also launched a satellite “dedicated to natural disaster prevention and mitigation,” the China National Space Administration said.

“The remote sensing satellite, Land Surveyor 4A, was carried into orbit on a Long March 3B rocket that blasted off at 1:26 am from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan province, and soon entered its preset geosynchronous orbit,” the administration said in a press release.

Developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, the Land Surveyor 4A is the “world's first synthetic aperture radar satellite in high-altitude orbit and will extensively improve China's space-based disaster monitoring system,” the release said.

Its users include the Emergency Management Ministry, Natural Resources Ministry, China Meteorological Administration, as well as Agriculture and Rural Affairs Ministry.