The satellite Beijing-3 (BJ-3), launched by a Long March-2D rocket, was sent into planned orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in North China's Shanxi province at 11:03 am on June 11.

The satellite Beijing-3 goes aloft aboard a Long March-2D rocket that blasted off at 11:03 am on June 11 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province.

At 10:00 am on June 14, the remote sensing satellite ground station received the first image with a spatial resolution of 0.5 m/pxl from the newly-launched mapping satellite BJ-3. Based on the image, the satellite technical team will further optimize the on-board focal length setting to perfect the image quality.

The high-resolution image captured by BJ-3, in which the scenery is rich in layers and distinct in color, was transmitted to the ground receiving station on June 14.

Invested by Beijing Twenty-first Century Aerospace Technology Co Ltd, a listed company of the China International Youth Exchange Center (CIYEC), the BJ-3 satellite can provide services in the fields of resources surveys, city management, environmental monitoring and disaster relief, and enhances the supply of high-resolution remote-sensing satellite data in China.

Beijing Twenty-first Century Aerospace Technology Co Ltd was founded in 2001 by the CIYEC. Since 2006 the Beijing-series remote-sensing satellites have provided steady and reliable big data and comprehensive application services of spatial information for users at home and abroad such as the ministries of natural resources, ecological environment and emergency management. They have created a world-wide established brand of remote-sensing satellites and applications.