One of China’s latest Earth observation satellites operating in low orbit could feature an optical aperture at a two-metre scale with “global leading” remote sensing capabilities, according to a China Science Daily report on Thursday last week.
The report refers to the Yaogan-47 satellite, which was launched aboard a Long March 4B carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on December 9.
For comparison, the Hubble Space Telescope and likely the US KH-11 spy satellite have main mirrors with a 2.4-metre aperture.
The Long March 4B rocket used for this launch had a low Earth orbit payload capacity of around four tonnes. In comparison, the similar-aperture Hubble telescope weighs about 11 tonnes and a KH-11 satellite weighs up to 17 tonnes.
This suggests that Yaogan-47 may not carry a similarly massive telescope or could instead employ a lightweight design.
The Post cannot independently verify whether the reported two-metre optical aperture component is actually on board the Yaogan-47.