China’s meteorological science and technology is world-class, with 8 Fengyun satellites operating in orbit?

The richness of information that meteorological professionals can interpret from this weather cloud map is far greater than that of ordinary people. As the most advanced meteorological satellite in the world today, Fengyun-4A is equipped with advanced equipment and powerful performance, and can see even the smallest details.

Fengyun-4A satellite was successfully launched on December 11, 2016. It is the first satellite for China’s geostationary orbiting meteorological satellite to move from the first generation to the second generation. Compared with its first-generation geostationary orbit satellite Fengyun-2, this satellite has achieved breakthroughs and innovations in many aspects and filled many international gaps.

In the view of Xu Jianmin, a satellite expert from the China Meteorological Administration and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, one of the biggest breakthroughs of the Fengyun-4 satellite as a series of Fengyun geostationary satellites is the realization of a leap in stabilization technology, that is, from "spin stabilization" to "three-axis stabilization".

The core issue faced by meteorological satellites is to improve the efficiency of earth observation and scanning, and the stability of the satellite itself is the key to improving the efficiency of observation and scanning. Chinese meteorological satellites have traditionally used spin stabilization technology, which relies on the self-rotation of the satellite to stabilize it. It rotates in space like a gyroscope. However, it spins 360 degrees in a circle and spends a very low time aligned with the earth. As a result, its efficiency is greatly reduced. Using the new three-axis stabilization technology, it can achieve stable shooting and scanning while always facing the earth, greatly improving work efficiency.