China, France plan to launch first joint oceanic satellite in 2018

Chinese and French scientists pose for photo. [Photo: CRI Online]

The first satellite jointly developed by the Chinese and French space agencies will be launched from China in the second half of 2018.

The China-French Oceanic Satellite is being tested in a Beijing-based assembly testing center of the China National Space Administration, said the administration Friday.

The 700-kilogram satellite will be primarily used for waves forecast and monitoring, as well as research in floating ice, polar glacier and ocean dynamics.

The satellite will carry a wave-scatterometer spectrometer developed by the French space agency and a wind-measurement scatterometer by Chinese scientists. It will be sent into space by a Chinese Long March carrier rocket.