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China and Brazil Extend Their Successful Remote Sensing Space Project
23 July 2014
(LPAC)—China and Brazil will move ahead with their China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) program, adding a new satellite, and considering more in the future, the director of China National Space Administration, Xu Dazhe, said today. The two nations have launched a series of four Earth remote sensing satellites, with Brazil building the spacecraft and China providing the launch vehicle. The program was inaugurated from a 1984 agreement, and CBERS-1 was launched in 1999, CBERS-2 in 2003, and CBERS 2b in 2007. The CBERS-3 satellite was lost in a rocket launch failure last year. So, the two nations have accelerated the readiness of CBERS-4, which is now planned for a Dec. 7, 2014, launch. Under consideration is a CBERS 4a satellite to be added on. The increasingly sophisticated satellites are being used by more then 2,500 organizations and 35,000 users, with 250 images being distributed daily. The data helps determine water resources, deforestation, etc. Xu indicated that China is interested in proceeding with CBERS 5 and 6, and talks will be held at the end of this year to plan them. The joint program has enjoyed support from the top leadership of both nations. In 1993, Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited the engineering facilities in Brazil, to observe a CBERS satellite under construction. The joint project is a model Marsha Freeman |