Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)
Beijing, 30 January: China will launch two satellites dedicated to radio and TV relay services for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in June and October this year, the China Satellite Communications Corporation (CSCC) said Tuesday [30 January]. Manufacturing of the two satellites is under way under strict quality control to ensure the timely and smooth launch of them, said Guo Hao, deputy general manager of CSCC.
CSCC has been contracted to provide broadcasting and TV signal transfer and traffic monitoring and navigation services for the 2008 Olympic Games. China launched an Olympic weather forecasting satellite, the Fengyun-2D, last December. China Meteorological Administration (CMA) announced early this month the Fengyun-2D satellite had successfully connected with the ground control and was operating normally.
Chief designer Li Qin said: “The satellite will provide accurate and timely information about weather changes to help us with weather forecasts during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, especially the opening and closing ceremonies and important contests.” Besides monitoring weather changes in China, the FY-2D will also monitor weather changes in neighbouring countries.
(Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1202 gmt 30 Jan 07 via BBC Monitoring/ R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)