On Saturday at 3:56 p.m. Beijing Time, a Long March-2D rocket soared from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwest of the Chinese mainland, carrying the Zhangheng 1-02 satellite into its planned orbit. Named after Zhang Heng, the inventor of the world's first seismoscope over 1,800 years ago, this mission marks a new chapter in space-based disaster monitoring.
As the first operational satellite under the Chinese mainland’s medium and long-term civil space infrastructure plan, Zhangheng 1-02 was co-developed with Italy and features nine cutting-edge payloads. These include an electric field detector jointly built by the Chinese mainland and Italy, plus a high-energy particle detector from Italy. Its mission is to monitor global electromagnetic fields, ionospheric waves, and the neutral atmosphere in near-real time.
With a designed lifespan of six years, Zhangheng 1-02 will team up with its predecessor, Zhangheng 1-01, launched in 2018. Together, they will provide continuous data streams that link shifts in the Earth's physical fields with geological events. Peng Wei, deputy director of system engineering at the CNSA, explains that this data could lead to better predictions of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, extreme weather, and space weather events.
The Italian Space Agency’s deputy director of engineering and technology, Francesco Longo, calls the mission Limadou, honoring Matteo Ricci’s legacy of cultural exchange. He notes that doubling observation time with a future satellite constellation could unlock new insights for disaster preparedness and response.
This launch, the 581st mission of the Long March rocket series, showcases the power of international collaboration. By uniting cutting-edge technology with shared scientific goals, Zhangheng 1-02 aims to deliver data-driven solutions to protect lives and property around the globe.
Reference(s):
China launches Zhangheng 1-02 satellite to monitor natural disaster
cgtn.com
