''Tian Hui-1'' (also known as ''Mapping Satellite I'') is a Chinese Earth observation satellite built by Dong Feng Hong, a

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, or CASC, is the main contractor for the Chinese space program. It is state-owned and has subsidiaries which design, develop and manufacture a range of spacecraft, launch vehicles, strategi ...

(CASC). Tian Hui-1 was launched on 6 May 2012 at 9:10 UTC on a

Long March 2D The Long March 2D (), also known as the Chang Zheng 2D, CZ-2D and LM-2D, is a Chinese two-stage orbital carrier rocket mainly used for launching LEO and SSO satellites. It is manufactured by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology ( ...

rocket into a Sun-synchronous,

polar orbit A polar orbit is one in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited (usually a planet such as the Earth, but possibly another body such as the Moon or Sun) on each revolution. It has an inclination of about ...

with an

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ell ...

of and

apogee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ell ...

of . According to the Chinese Ministry of Defense the new satellite carries scientific experiments and is to be used for the evaluation of ground resources and mapping. Tian Hui 1 is equipped with two different camera systems in the visible and

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

range. The visible light camera is able to produce three-dimensional pictures in the spectral region between 510 and 690 nanometers with a dissolution of approximately 5 meters and a field of view of approximately 25 degrees. The infrared camera reaches a dissolution of approximately 10 meters and covers four wavelengths (430 - 520 Nm, 520 - 610 Nm, 610 - 690 Nm and 760 - 900 Nm).

References

{{Orbital launches in 2012 Spacecraft launched in 2012 Satellites of China Earth observation satellites Spacecraft launched by Long March rockets