China's latest earth observation satellite impressive in photo detail

Photos taken by China's most sophisticated civilian observation satellite can identify a white line on a road, say space authorities - a measure of how far the programme has come although it still lags the technology of other countries.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Monday published 15 photos taken by the Gaofen 2 satellite that show in detail important national landmarks such as the Forbidden City in Beijing, an earthquake-hit area in Yunnan , a mining zone in Shanxi and Heavenly Lake in Xinjiang .

Gaofen 2 was launched last month. It was the second satellite in an ambitious earth observation network that authorities say will give China global monitoring capability by 2020.

Xu Wen , director of the China Centre for Resources Satellite Data and Application, said the high-resolution photos meant tracking stations would have to cope with a large amount of receiving data, according to an interview posted on the website of State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence on Monday.

Unlike that of the United States, which has built a large number of ground stations worldwide, the programme can only download data when the satellite passes over the country.

Gaofen 2 is also China's first "smart satellite", meaning it is able to stop shooting when flying above cloudy areas, thus collecting only the highest quality images, Xu said.