05 June 2018
On 5 June at 9:07 p.m., Beijing Time, China launched the new Fengyun 2H meteorological satellite to improve the accuracy of weather forecasting and provide better meteorological services to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. The Fengyun 2H was launched on a Long March 3A rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
A geostationary orbit satellite, Fengyun 2H is the last in the Fengyun 2 series. The Fengyun-4 series will dominate China's new generation geostationary orbit meteorological satellites, said Zhao Jian, deputy director of the Department of System Engineering of China National Space Administration (CNSA). In response to a request from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO), the position of Fengyun 2H will be changed from original 86.5 degrees east longitude to 79 degrees east longitude. This means the Fengyun series satellites will be able to cover all the territory of China, as well as countries along the Belt and Road, the Indian Ocean and most African countries, according to the CNSA.
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