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Huanjing HJ-2 S-SAR 02 Disaster Monitoring

The S-SAR 02 satellite codenamed Environmental Surveyor 2F, launched at 6:53 a.m. on 09 August 2023 by a Long March 2C rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in North China's Shanxi Province. This was the first of two disaster prevention-related satellite launched within a week by China [L-SAR4 / LTDC-4A followed a few days later]. Also developed by China Academy of Spacecraft Technology (CAST) in Beijing, the satellite is tasked with using its synthetic aperture radar to obtain images and data to support disaster prevention and mitigation, ecological monitoring and emergency response efforts. Its users are the Ministry of Emergency Management and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

The new remote sensing satellite will join the 5meter resolution S-SAR 01 satellite, which was launched into orbit in October last year. They will support disaster prevention, reduction, relief and environmental protection. They will serve specialists working in such fields as water conservation, agriculture, forestry, natural resources and earthquakes.

Space industry observers hailed the country's innovative strength in the space domain, which they say has been increasingly creating value in civilian applications and shows that the country's space development upholds the concept of "putting people first." During the recent heavy rainfall that impacted the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in North China as well as Northeast China's Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, 16 satellites, including Gaofen-3 remote sensing satellites, were deployed to provide rapid imaging services to assist disaster monitoring, according to the state-owned aerospace giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).