Satellite network launched to serve Shaanxi, B&R regions

A grand satellite network project was launched on Tuesday, the third "China Space Day", in Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

The "Shaanxi I" Satellite Constellation Project consists of three stages and involves building a network of 256 satellites.

Jointly issued by the Shaanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission and Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), the project is aimed at achieving high-frequency remote sensing monitoring of Shaanxi and other areas along the route of the Belt and Road Initiative.

When completed, the project will provide real-time detailed visual image information for territorial resources surveying, urban planning, environment monitoring and disaster warning.

The project will be co-developed by NPU and Xi'an-based Aoxiang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd.

According to the schedule, the guiding satellites of the project -- "Xi'an I-A" and "Xi'an I-B" -- are expected to be launched in June 2019. Their purpose will be to provide relevant data through monitoring of the haze and pollution of water resources in Shaanxi in an all-round way.

The project will effectively promote commercialization of the research findings of cubesat technology, and bring benefits to the province's industries of new materials, intelligent manufacturing, and big data.

It will also help to form a complete industrial chain of satellite design, manufacturing, testing, experimenting, application and service, and propel the development of Shaanxi's commercial space industry.

Zhou Jun, president of Xi'an-based Aoxiang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd, said, "The company will bring together in Shaanxi superior resources of satellite launching, communications, monitoring and control."

Zhou predicts that in the future 200 cubesat satellites will be produced each year.

A cubesat is a type of miniature satellite of low costs, which meets certain international standards.