China confirms reception of data from Gaofen-5 satellite

BEIJING - The Chinese Academy of Sciences confirmed that one of its institutes has successfully tracked and received the data from the recently launched Gaofen-5, a the hyperspectral imaging satellite.

The Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth of CAS said researchers with the Remote Sensing Satellite Ground Station it runs received the first Gaofen-5 data from Miyun location on the outskirts of Beijing on May 13. The data size was 60GB and the time frame was nine minutes and 32 seconds.

The Gaofen-5 satellite was launched using a Long March 4C rocket at 2:28 am Beijing Time on May 9 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi province.

Gaofen-5 will be used for comprehensive environmental monitoring.

The satellite can dynamically reflect the state of air pollution in China through the monitoring of air pollutants, greenhouse gases, and aerosols.