China’s nimble Beijing-3 satellite does unprecedented rapid scan of San Francisco

Chinese researchers say they used the nation’s Beijing-3 satellite to conduct an “unprecedented experiment” while gathering images of San Francisco. Scientists involved in the project said that while most Earth observation satellites must keep perfectly stable when taking shots, the “world’s nimblest imaging satellite” was able to change its camera angle as it did an in-depth scan of the core area of the city in only 42 seconds on June 16, 2021, not long after the spacecraft was launched. Most imaging satellites must keep perfectly stable when taking shots, because attitude control mechanisms produce vibrations that blur images. 

Source: Yang Fang, Spacecraft Engineering journal via CCTV