Powerful image

The China Mapping Telescope - a powerful high-resolution instrument designed to map and photograph Chinese territory - was launched last week aboard Surrey Satellite Technology’s Beijing-1 spacecraft.

Developed for the Beijing Landview Mapping Information Technology Company, the instrument will help China plan projects associated with the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as monitoring natural and manmade disasters.

Based on a long-focus telescope also known as an Earth imager, the space-based camera/telescope built by SIRA weighs 25kg and uses just 12W of power. It can capture images of a 24km strip of ground from 700km above the Earth to a resolution of four metres. This means ground objects such as houses and vehicles can be distinguished from space.

The technology presented significant engineering challenges during its design and build. David Purll, chief space scientist and project manager at SIRA, explained that owing to the combination of high-resolution and size limitation, it had to contain an almost perfect optical system.