China to Have Over 100 Eyes in the Sky

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday November 17, 2004 @11:00PM from the not-for-all-the-satellites-in-china dept.

gollum123 writes "Reuters reports China plans to launch more than 100 satellites before 2020 to watch every corner of the country, state-run China Central Television quoted a government official as saying Tuesday. A "large surveying network" would be set up to monitor water reserves, forests, farmland, city construction and "various activities of society," a government official said without elaborating. "The aim is that, at any time and any place, we can obtain necessary data on any event through watching the Earth from space," said Shao Liqin, an official with the Ministry of Science and Technology."

1 of 330 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

What orbit? by EyeSavant · 2004-11-17 23:06 · Score: 5, Insightful

What it does not say is what orbit these things will be in. Spy satelites normally are in polar orbit so they cover the whole earth as it rotates.

Putting these things in geostationary orbit so that they stay in the same place as the earth rotates is probably too high for this sort of thing.

Hence I guess that these things can spy on the rest of the world, not just China. Or am I missing something?