On October 19 at 9:20:04 a.m. Beijing Time [0120 UTC] a Changzheng-3A (Long March-3A) rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC) in the southwestern Sichuan Province with Fengyun-2C (FY-2C, Fengyun means "Wind and Cloud") on board.

About 24 minutes later the Xi'an Satellite Control Center (XSCC) in the central Shaanxi Province and the fleet of Yuanwang (Yuanwang means "Long View") tracking vessels received telemetry that the launcher had successfully delivered FY-2C to a geostationary transfer orbit.

Over the next five days mission controllers commanded FY-2C to carry out orbital maneuvers to climb toward the geostationary orbit. The metsat finally reached station on Oct. 24 at 11:21 a.m. [0321 UTC].

FY-2C is the replacement satellite for FY-2B, which has been in space since June 25, 2000 and has operated beyond its design life of three years.

In late August controllers at NSMC maneuvered FY-2B out of its geostationary orbital slot to make room for its successor FY-2C. The ageing metsat now occupies the geostationary orbital slot at 123.5 deg E.

NSMC, a scientific research and operational facility affiliated to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), receives, processes and distributes metsat data to users.

FY-2C is hovering above the Equator at longitude 105 deg E in a circular geostationary orbit, with an average altitude of 35,784 km and an inclination of 0.8 deg.

The launch of FY-2C also marked the first ever insurance coverage provided for a domestic commercial operation satellite. Xinhua News Agency reported that five insurance companies jointly provided an insurance policy of RMB 395 million yuan [USD 47.7 million].

The policy insures prelaunch, launch and on-orbit operations, damages to launch range facilities, and third party liability.

Clear First Cloud Imagey

On-orbit checkout of FY-2C and its science payloads began the day after the satellite reached station.

FY-2C is a spin-stabilized satellite that rotates at 100 rpm to maintain its attitude. The satellite is 1.6 m tall and 2.1 m in diameter, with an initial on-orbit mass of approximately 623 kg. FY-2C has a design life expectancy of three years.

The primary payload on FY-2C is the Visible Infrared Spin-Scan Radiometer (VISSR); an imaging instrument consists of a scanning system, a telescope, and infrared and visible sensors.

Through step action of the scan mirror VISSR produces cloud cover pictures in five channels, which is two additional channels than its predecessor on FY-2B. The spectral coverage includes the three conventional channels in the wavelength bands of visible (0.55-1.05 micrometer), infrared (10.5-12.5 micrometer) and water vapour (6.2-7.6 micrometer).

Using sensors to sense radiant and reflected solar energy from sampled areas of the Earth, VISSR can make daytime and nighttime observations of cloud, and determine cloud heights, temperatures and wind fields.

FY-2C produces a cloud image once every half an hour, with a nadir resolution of 1.25 km in the visible channel. Nominally FY-2C transmits 28 cloud images daily. During the flood season, FY-2C can increase the transmission to 48 or more images per day.

The satellite also carries instruments to monitor solar activities such as emission of x-rays, and measure particle radiation in the orbital environment.

The new metsat achieved "first light" on Oct. 29. From 11 a.m. to 11:25 a.m. [0800-0825 UTC] VISSR moved its scanning system from west to east and north to south to make the first full disk image of the Earth, centering on China.

The complete image, measuring 9,164 by 9,164 pixels, shows a large cloud-free area that extends south of the Yangtze River to the southern Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The image also shows a cloud system developing in the western area near the Tibetan Plateau, and snow accumulation in the northeast highland.

Xu Jianmin, Chief Engineer of the FY-2C ground application system, said that based on the first image there was "an obvious improvement" in the quality of the imagery compared to that returned from FY-2B.

The improvement is in resolving structures in cloud cells over sea and in land features such as lakes and deserts; a wider dynamic range in grayscale level display in high-, medium-, and low-level clouds, snow cover, vegetation and water bodies; and a greater level of suppression of scattered light in visible images.

Xu said that in about three weeks the infrared scanner would see its "first light".

Under the current plan FY-2C would start transmitting observations to clients in January next year, and reach commercial operation status by June.

Another key technical improvement on FY-2C is an increase in battery capacity from 17 ampere-hour to 30 ampere-hour. This would further ensure that the metsat maintains normal operation during periods of eclipse when the satellite goes into the Earth's shadow.

Provide Domestic And Regional Observations

FY-2C will continue the surveillance of changing weather conditions that spans the Indian Ocean in the west and the western Pacific Ocean in the east. The metsat will monitor development and movement of typhoons in the Pacific Ocean and cyclones in the Indian Ocean, watch weather changes at the Tibetan Plateau, survey the land and seas, detect grassland and forest fires, and observe sandstorms and fog formation.

NSMC Assistant Director Yang Jun pointed out that FY-2C would provide important climatic information of western Asia and the Indian Ocean to the international community.

"FY-2C could provide meteorological services to countries and regions that are under its coverage area. This will especially benefit the countries and regions that border China," said Yang.

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