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China researches high resolution imaging from high orbit

Xinhua, September 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

Chinese researchers are confident of making technological breakthroughs over the next four years in developing high resolution imaging that can see car-sized objects on the earth from high orbit.

Researchers at the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP) are studying camera technologies suited for satellites 36,000 kilometers away from earth, with significant government support.

The CIOMP plan aims to achieve an optical resolution of 2.5 meters for the camera. This is the equivalent of seeing a hair clearly from 800 meters away.

The technologies being researched will enable cameras to operate on satellites in high orbit, known as geostationary orbit, allowing the cameras to appear stationary in the sky and view the same point on earth continuously.

China already has high-resolution imaging in space, but at a lower orbit of about several hundred kilometers away from earth. Low-orbiting satellites constantly move around the earth and can only take snapshots of the earth as they fly.

Based on its considerable experience in the area, CIOMP is confident of completing the research by the end of 2020, said CIOMP deputy head Zhang Xuejun. Endi