String of Chinese satellites to keep real-time watch on South China Sea to ‘reinforce national sovereignty’
Each reef and island in the contested waters will be monitored from space after launches start next year, developer says
China will next year start launching a series of satellites to track water conditions and traffic, and reinforce “national sovereignty” throughout the South China Sea, according to state media.
In all, six optical satellites, two hyperspectral satellites and two radar satellites will keep a real-time daily watch on the contested waters and monitor key areas several times a day as part of the Hainan satellite constellation system, China News Service reported on Monday.
Yang Tianliang, director of the academy’s Sanya Institute of Remote Sensing, said the network would enable authorities based in Hainan to speed up their response to emergencies, more effectively administer the South China Sea, and improve exploration and development of the resource-rich waters.
“Each reef and island as well as each vessel in the South China Sea will be under the watch of the ‘space eyes’,” Yang said. “The system will [reinforce] national sovereignty, protection of fisheries, and marine search and rescue.”
The programme is being carried out by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and is expected to be completed by 2021.