China launches world’s first high-orbit synthetic aperture radar

Beijing, Aug 13 : China has launched the disaster monitoring satellite L-SAR4 01, the world’s first high-orbit synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite, on a Long March-3B carrier rocket, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said on Sunday.

The launch took place at 1:26 local time (17:26 GMT on Saturday) from the Xichang spaceport in Sichuan Province in southwestern China. Shortly after the launch, the satellite successfully entered the planned orbit.

“This is the world’s first high-orbit synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite that has entered the project implementation stage,” CSNA said.

The space agency also noted that the satellite will improve China’s space monitoring of natural disasters and enhance disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities.

The launch was the 483rd mission of the Long March rocket family.