Article Posted on : - Oct 08, 2014

An unrelated web photo.

BEIJING (BNS): China will orbit a series of new marine surveillance satellites in 2019 to monitor ships, oil rigs, marine disasters and land-based resources.

The constellation of satellites, to be called HY-3 (HaiYang-3), will use synthetic aperture radar technology in order to operate day or night and in all weather conditions, Lin Mingsen, deputy director with the National Satellite Ocean Application Service, said.

The satellites will be able see meter-long objects from space and generate high-definition imagery of both land and ocean surfaces.

The surveillance satellites would be used to monitor ships and drilling platforms, besides observing marine oil spills, sea ice, ocean waves and surface winds among others, the official was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.

"They will play an important role in reinforcing China's marine rights protection, marine law enforcement and supervision, management of its offshore waters and marine disaster relief and reduction," Lin said.

China has already orbited the HY-1 and HY-2 series of oceanographic satellites.

The new HY-3 constellation will integrate the features of both the HY-1 and HY-2 series of satellites, according to the nasaspaceflight.com website.