An earth-monitoring microsatellite, Beijing 1, was successfully launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on Thursday.

Designed and built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) at the UK's University of Surrey on behalf of the Beijing Landview Mapping Information Technology Co Ltd, it not only has the specific task of monitoring environmental factors in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, but will also be the most technologically advanced satellite in the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC). 

Beijing 1 will join four other DMC satellites already launched by SSTL on behalf of Algeria, Nigeria, Turkey and the UK. Together they will monitor natural and manmade disasters around the globe from low orbits and relay vital information to governments and aid agencies.

Beijing 1 carries two powerful cameras onboard. One is able to monitor areas of 600 km by 600 km (ten times that available from any other commercial satellite in orbit), while the other can capture images of a 24 km wide strip of ground with a resolution of down to four meters making this satellite particularly useful for assessing earthquake damage and flooding in urban areas.

(China.org.cn October 28, 2005)