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China to Have Over 100 Eyes in the Sky

Posted by samzenpus on 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."

4 of 330 comments (clear)

  1. What orbit? by EyeSavant · · 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?

    1. Re:What orbit? by Zitchas · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Good question, that. Depending on how much they're spending per satelite it's possible they're using geosync orbits, and simply have spent extra to have top end resoltutions. Although they'd still have to have some mobile and/or aiming capability, since even 100 satelites won't be able to keep the entire country within the view of high res cameras. My personal bet would be with a bunch of geosync sats over areas of significant intrest to the gov, (say, about half of the sats, possibly as many as 75) with the rest being in polar orbits to cover all the rest of the locations that aren't so easily predictable.

      --
      Z
  2. In other news.... by Viceice · · Score: 5, Funny

    China legalises nude sun bathing. An official, quoted on condition of anonymity, said that studies have shown that Chinese women, especially those between the ages of 18 to 29 seem to suffer from low levels of vitamin D and are thus encouraged to sunbath... in the nude... on clear cloudless days...

    --
    Sometimes I wish I was a plumber, then I'd know how to deal with other people's shit.
  3. Nothing new by Flyboy+Connor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The US have spy satellites up. Europe wants spy satellites up. Don't complain if the Chinese want theirs up there too.