China Launched Carbon-Tracking Satellite

China has launched its first carbon-tracking satellite.

China is among the countries affected the most by pollution and has been one of the leading supports of climate change initiatives like the Paris Agreement. Recently, it has successfully launched its first carbon-tracking satellite into orbit.

The name of the satellite is TanSat, as “Tan” means carbon in Chinese. It was deployed on top of the country’s Long March 2D booster on Wednesday, December 22^nd, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, located in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia.

The TanSat carbon-tracking satellite was first started in the first months of 2011, and it was initially scheduled to launch at the end of 2015. The satellite passed both the Preliminary Design Review as well as the Critical Design Review. However, Chinese officials did not reveal what led to the series of delays during the Satellite Readiness Review stage. Nonetheless, all hurdles were passed and the satellite has been deployed into Earth’s orbit.

The TanSat project was developed by Chinese Academy of Sciences, and it features two deployable solar arrays which are capable of sustaining it for its three-year-long mission. The satellite’s main purpose is to monitor the global distribution of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. China hopes that the collected data will help scientists better understand the impact of carbon dioxide and its contribution to climate change as well as its variation throughout the seasons.

The satellite will monitor the global levels of carbon every 16 days, with a high degree of accuracy. The data will also be used for a wide range of project in various research fields such as meteorology and oceanography. The launch came after a new study revealed that greenhouse gas emissions have remained stable due to cuts made by China. The country hopes that the new mission will be followed by a further decline in their carbon emissions.

Besides the TanSat satellite, the rocket also launched one high-resolution and two spectrum micro-nano satellites. They are meant to monitor the agriculture and forests in China. The launch of their carbon-tracking satellites makes China the third country to deploy such a satellite into orbit, behind the United States and Japan.

What do you think about China’s carbon-tracking satellite? Should other countries follow suit?

Image source: Flickr

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Deborah Campbell

Deborah Campbell grew up on a steady diet of fantasy stories, 19th century poetry and Greek mythology. It’s no wonder she turned into such a hopeless romantic. She has always had a knack for writing, but she has yet to publish any best-seller yet. At the beginning of 2013 she decided to try something a little different: she started working for a web design firm, as a creative artist. That’s where she discovered her second calling. Although seemingly opposite, fantasy and technology are Deborah’s two main passions. She is now part of the argyllfreepress.com team, for which she creates detailed tutorials & reviews for some of the world’s most exciting gadgets. She also tries to squeeze a verse or two in her reviews from time to time.