The space rocket Long March-2D, carrying Gaofen-1, a new civilian high-resolution remote sensing satellite, lifts off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province, April 26, 2013. The rocket also brought into space three small satellites made by Ecuador, Argentina and Turkey as well as two satellite splitters from the Netherlands.
Gaofen-1 is designed based on the CAST small satellite bus and built by China Spacesat Co. Ltd. It is equipped with two solar panel wings. For observation purposes, GF-1 is also equipped with a 2 meter resolution CCD camera, an 8 meter resolution multi-spectrum imager, and a 16 meter resolution wide-field multi-spectrum imager. [Photo: CNS/Sun Zifa]
