China launched a new meteorological satellite today from southwestern Sichuan province, Anadolu reports.

The Fengyun-4 03 satellite was launched by a Long March-3B rocket at 12:07 a.m. local time and successfully entered the planned orbit, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Fengyun-4 03 will now join the Fengyun meteorological constellation. of China, which consists of 20 satellites.

According to CGTN, the satellite is primarily designed to support short-term weather forecasting.

It is equipped with four Earth observation instruments and two solar observation instruments.

Its capabilities include: completing a full Earth scan within five minutes — up from 15 minutes previously; detecting atmospheric temperature changes of up to one-fiftieth of a degree Celsius from thousands of kilometers away; and achieving a spatial resolution of eight kilometers.

The satellite can also map temperature and humidity across China within an hour.

The Shanghai Academy of Space Flight Technology said the improved network will significantly improve China’s capabilities in weather forecasting, meteorological disaster prevention, space weather monitoring and ecological environment observation.

Source: prizrenpost