China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation will launch two satellites at the end of this year, which together will form China's first commercial remote sensing satellite constellation with 0.5-meter resolution.

In 2017, another two satellites of the same type will be launched. By then, China will be able to provide high-quality remote sensing satellite data and value-added service to clients at home and abroad.

The constellation will eventually include 16 satellites with optical remote sensing abilities and 0.5-meter resolution. These will be in addition to four synthetic aperture radar satellites, four optical remote sensing satellites and several high-spectrum satellites. The project, which was started in 2015, is progressing smoothly.

Since China's new-generation carrier rocket was put into use, the country's competitiveness in the commercial launch market has increased significantly, according to Sun Weigang, the corporation’s chief engineer. The Long March series carrier rockets have completed 235 launches, of which 54 were international commercial launches.

The recently released guideline for implementation of innovative projects using high-end equipment stipulates that the Long March-8 rockets will serve primarily for international commercial launches.