Full high-resolution EOS slated for 2020

Beijing (CNS) -- China's high-resolution (HR) Earth Observing System (EOS) is under construction and slated for a test run in 2013, with full functioning expected for 2020, the state authority announced on Tuesday.

The HR EOS is one of 16 top priority science and technology projects. It aims to provide a 24-hour , all-weather HR global observation network supplementing current facilities. The system will rely on China's satellite, stratosphere airship and airplane resources, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense clarified at a Tuesday press meeting.

A big move in the national space technology cause, the system will substantially enhance China's modern agriculture, natural disaster prevention, the resource and environmental industries, as well as public security.

The project was approved in May 2010, and construction started in 2012.