300 kilograms, a scanning swath of up to 200 kilometers, all-weather imaging and millimeter precision — for the safety of the country’s largest projects.

As reported by CCTV+, China has launched its first satellite specifically designed for the energy sector. This is an important step in using space technology to monitor infrastructure.

The Tianyi-50 satellite, also known as Dianjian-1, was one of five payloads on a Lijian-1 Y13 carrier rocket. The launch took place from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China at 12:33 p.m. Beijing time.

Dianjian-1 is China’s first remote sensing satellite for energy infrastructure. It weighs about 300 kilograms. It is equipped with an advanced planar phased array radar system. Its scanning swath reaches 200 kilometers. The satellite has all-weather, day-and-night observation capabilities, penetrating through clouds.

It is China’s first radar remote sensing satellite specifically designed to serve the energy sector. It can be widely used to monitor the construction of major projects in this industry.

Dianjian-1’s biggest technological breakthrough — unlike traditional optical satellites — is its ability to perform high-precision deformation monitoring. It can detect and track ground deformations or cracks with millimeter-level accuracy. That is the thickness of a human hair.

After entering orbit, the satellite will provide full safety guarantees throughout the entire life cycle of major national projects in hydropower, water conservancy, transport and new energy infrastructure. Experts say it will also be able to identify potential large-scale geological disasters and provide accurate data for the preventive maintenance of these projects, while accumulating large amounts of spatiotemporal deformation data.

Shan Shihan, an R&D engineer for the Dianjian-1 satellite technology, explained: “The satellite’s orbit is specially designed to serve the construction of major infrastructure projects in western China, such as hydroelectric power stations, highways and railways. It orbits the Earth every 90 minutes and regularly visits our major western projects at 11:00 a.m. every day, when our synthetic aperture radar has its best penetration and reflectivity.”

A satellite that sees cracks as thin as a hair. That is not afraid of clouds, rain or darkness. It will circle over China’s construction sites every day at 11 a.m. And watch to ensure that dams do not leak, roads do not crack and mountains do not slide. Space-based security is no longer science fiction. It is technology in orbit working for the ground. China is not just building giant projects. It is learning to protect them from time and nature. And it starts with a millimeter. Because a disaster always begins with something small. Now it will be seen before it happens.