The Chinese-Brazilian satellite CBERS-4, part of the “China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite” programme is scheduled to be launched on 7 December, from the launch site in China, according to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in Brazil .
The statement signed by Antonio Carlos Pereira de Oliveira Jr., coordinator of the Space Segment of the CBERS Programme, said that “INPE and CAST [Chinese Academy of Space Technology] experts have been working hard to launch CBERS-4 on 7 December, and transport of the satellite to the launch site is scheduled for 15 October.”
CBERS-4 has already been subjected to electrical and environmental tests and has an estimated life of three years.
The division of responsibility in the development of the new satellite is 50 percent for each country, with Brazil cameras and the data collection system and China providing a high resolution camera and optical instruments.
During the meeting held in Brazil, the parties decided that a sixth satellite, CBERS-4A, will be released within three years.
CBERS is a space cooperation programme with over two decades of history, during which three satellites (CBERS-1, CBERS-2, CBERS-2B) were built and placed in geo-stationary orbit, and the fourth – CBERS-3 – was placed into orbit in December 2013 but was eventually lost due to problems at launch. (macauhub/BR/CN)
Source: macauhub