Fēngyún abb. FY

FY

FY or fy can stand for:*Fiscal year, a 12-month period used for calculating annual financial reports*West Frisian language , a language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland, Netherlands...

are China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

's weather satellite

Weather satellite

The weather satellite is a type of satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be either polar orbiting, seeing the same swath of the Earth every 12 hours, or geostationary, hovering over the same spot on Earth by orbiting over the equator while...

s. China has launched polar orbit

Polar orbit

A polar orbit is an orbit in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited on each revolution. It therefore has an inclination of 90 degrees to the equator...

 and geosynchronous orbit

Geosynchronous orbit

A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period that matches the Earth's sidereal rotation period...

 meteorological satellite

Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

s since 1988. On January 11, 2007 China destroyed one of these satellites (FY-1C) in a test of an anti-satellite missile

2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test

The 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test was conducted by China on January 11, 2007. A Chinese weather satellite—the FY-1C polar orbit satellite of the Fengyun series, at an altitude of , with a mass of 750 kg—was destroyed by a kinetic kill vehicle traveling with a speed of 8 km/s in...

.

The satellites in the FY-1 series are polar-orbiting sun-synchronous orbit

Sun-synchronous orbit

A Sun-synchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit which combines altitude and inclination in such a way that an object on that orbit ascends or descends over any given point of the Earth's surface at the same local mean solar time. The surface illumination angle will be nearly the same every time...

s. The satellites in the FY-2 series are in geosynchronous orbit.

Meteorological satellites also important in oceanography

Oceanography

Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...

, agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, forestry

Forestry

Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...

, hydrology

Hydrology

Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability...

, aviation

Aviation

Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...

, navigation

Navigation

Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...

, environmental protection

Environmental protection

Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...

 and national defense

Defense (military)

Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...

. They contribute to the national economy and to preventing and mitigating disasters. The latest satellites monitor bad weather around the clock, particularly convective rainstorms, thunderstorm

Thunderstorm

A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...

s and hail

Hail

Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...

storms. They also monitor developing sandstorms

Dust storm

A dust / sand storm is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Particles are transported by saltation and suspension, causing soil to move from one place and deposition...

 as well as air quality and provide early warnings.

According to NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

, the intentional destruction of FY-1C created 2,841 high-velocity debris items, a larger amount of dangerous space junk than any other space mission in history.

Current and previous satellites

Launch date	Satellites	Vehicle	Orbit	In use	resolution	height	diameter
1988-09-07	FY-1A	CZ-4	SSO	No	1.08 km	1.2 meter	1.4 meter
1990-09-03	FY-1B	CZ-4	SSO	No	1.08 km	1.8 meter	1.4 meter
1997-06-10	FY-2A	CZ-3 Long March 3 The Long March 3 , also known as the Chang Zheng 3, CZ-3 and LM-3, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It was launched from Launch Complex 1 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. It was a 3-stage rocket, and was mostly used to place DFH-2-class communications satellites into geosynchronous...	GEO Geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...  105°E	No	1.25 km	4.5 meter	2.1 meter
1999-05-10	FY-1C	CZ-4	SSO	destroyed 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test The 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test was conducted by China on January 11, 2007. A Chinese weather satellite—the FY-1C polar orbit satellite of the Fengyun series, at an altitude of , with a mass of 750 kg—was destroyed by a kinetic kill vehicle traveling with a speed of 8 km/s in...  in 2007
2000-06-25	FY-2B	CZ-3 Long March 3 The Long March 3 , also known as the Chang Zheng 3, CZ-3 and LM-3, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It was launched from Launch Complex 1 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. It was a 3-stage rocket, and was mostly used to place DFH-2-class communications satellites into geosynchronous...	GEO Geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...  105°E	No	1.25 km	4.5 meter	2.1 meter
2002-05-15	FY-1D	CZ-4B Long March 4B The Long March 4B , also known as the Chang Zheng 4B, CZ-4B and LM-4B is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. Launched from Launch Complex 1 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, it is a 3-stage rocket, used mostly to place satellites into low Earth and sun synchronous orbits...	SSO	Yes	1.08 km	1.8 meter	1.4 meter
2004-10-19	FY-2C	CZ-3A Long March 3A The Long March 3A , also known as the Chang Zheng 3A, CZ-3A and LM-3A, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It is a 3-stage rocket, and is usually used to place communications satellites and Beidou navigation satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbits.It has formed the basis of the Long March...	GEO Geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...  105°E	No	1.25 km	4.5 meter	2.1 meter
2006-12-08	FY-2D Fengyun 2D Fengyun 2D is a Chinese-made weather satellite. It is fifth satellite of the Fengyun 2 series. The satellite was launched on a Long March 3A rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center on December 8, 2006 at 08:53 CST. It entered an orbit of 202x36,525 km at 09:17 CST. Plans call for it to be...	CZ-3A Long March 3A The Long March 3A , also known as the Chang Zheng 3A, CZ-3A and LM-3A, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It is a 3-stage rocket, and is usually used to place communications satellites and Beidou navigation satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbits.It has formed the basis of the Long March...	GEO Geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...  86.5°E	Yes	1.25 km	4.5 meter	2.1 meter
2008-05-27	FY-3A	CZ-4C Long March 4C The Long March 4C, also known as the Chang Zheng 4C, CZ-4C and LM-4C, previously designated Long March 4B-II, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It is launched from the Jiuquan and Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centres, and consists of 3 stages...	SSO	Yes	250 meter	4 m x 2 m	2 meter
2008-12-23	FY-2E	CZ-3A Long March 3A The Long March 3A , also known as the Chang Zheng 3A, CZ-3A and LM-3A, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It is a 3-stage rocket, and is usually used to place communications satellites and Beidou navigation satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbits.It has formed the basis of the Long March...	GEO Geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...  105°E	Yes	1.25 km	4.5 meter	2.1 meter
2010-11-04	FY-3B	CZ-4C Long March 4C The Long March 4C, also known as the Chang Zheng 4C, CZ-4C and LM-4C, previously designated Long March 4B-II, is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It is launched from the Jiuquan and Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centres, and consists of 3 stages...	SSO	Under Preparation	250 meter	4 m x 2 m	2 meter

Planned satellites

The newer FY-3 series is an improved generation of polar orbiting heliosynchronous weather satellites. The FY-4 series is an improved generation of geosynchronous meteorological satellites.