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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, October 21, 2003

China, Brazil to develop two more satellites by 2010

China and Brazil will join hands in putting two more earth resources satellites into orbit by around 2010, a Chinese space official said on Tuesday.


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China and Brazil will join hands in putting two more earth resources satellites into orbit by around 2010, a Chinese space official said on Tuesday.

Sun Laiyan, deputy director of the China National Space Administration, said both sides will share the costs equally for developing and producing the satellites, citing an agreement the two countries signed late last year.

The official made the remarks after a Chinese rocket carried an earth resources satellite developed by the two countries and a Chinese-made small communications satellite into separate orbits on Tuesday.

Space officials said the satellite is more reliable than the first one which was developed by the two countries and launched on Oct. 14., 1999 from the same launch center.

Sun described the successful launch in 1999 as a milestone for both China and Brazil as it was the fruit of 13 years of efforts by experts from the two countries.

The first satellite has outlived its planned two-year service term and is still in operational orbit.

According to an agreement signed by the two countries, Brazil was responsible for the development of a CCD imaging system in the satellite, while China was responsible for the application platform and two other payloads.

The second Resources No. 1 satellite was designed to monitor earth's land resources changes, survey arable lands and grasslands, monitor natural and human disasters, offer information on aquatic farming and environmental pollution, and explore mineral resources.

The resources satellite, 1,550 kg in weight with a designed service life of two years, was developed by the Chinese Academy of Space Technology in cooperation with the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research.

China bore 70 percent of the costs of the resources satellites the two countries developed, while Brazil bore 30 percent, according to an agreement the two countries signed in 1986.


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