JIUQUAN - China on Wednesday launched the Lijian-1 or Kinetica-1 Y11 carrier rocket with 9 satellites, including one from the United Arab Emirates, onboard.

The rocket blasted off at 12:03 pm (Beijing Time) from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone near the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China. It successfully sent the satellites into the planned orbit. 

The UAE-led satellite, named 813, is designed for observing soil, the climate and the environment.

Satellite for grid

The launch deployed China's first remote-sensing satellite in the power industry, coded Jixing High-Resolution 07D01.

With a spatial resolution better than 0.5 meters, this satellite enables precise monitoring of the structural conditions of power grid equipment, such as transmission lines and pylons.

The satellite can perform continuous east-west strip observations, covering over 200 kilometers of transmission corridor in a single pass, according to the State Grid Electric Power Engineering Research Institute, one of its designers.

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Compared to current satellite systems, this new satellite is expected to enhance surveying precision for transmission projects and line inspections by more than fivefold.

The satellite supports diverse applications, from managing ultra-high voltage (UHV) projects and assessing environmental impacts in transmission networks, to inspecting critical power corridors, issuing disaster warnings and evaluating post-disaster damage.

Also among the launch payload were two remote-sensing satellites dedicated to water resource monitoring, urban management, and digital transformation of a district in Hefei, capital city of East China's Anhui province.