BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- China has successfully tracked and received data from the newly launched Earth observation satellite Gaofen-7, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The China Remote Sensing Satellite Ground Station has received 616.6 GB of data with the highest transmission rate among civil Earth observation satellite data reception, according to the Aerospace Information Research Institute under the CAS.

The Gaofen-7 satellite has adopted variable coding and modulation technology, effectively improving its downlink transmission efficiency of satellite data. The China Remote Sensing Satellite Ground Station also developed new ground data receiving devices for adaptive, fully automatic and reliable reception of multiple satellite data.

Launched on Nov. 3, Gaofen-7 is China's first civil-use optical transmission three-dimensional surveying and mapping satellite that reaches the sub-meter level. It is expected play an important role in land surveying and mapping, urban and rural construction and statistical investigation.