[FPSPACE] China plans lots of remote sensing satellites

[Allen Thomson]

This seems... ambitious.  Anyone have additional information about it?

 China Plans to Have Over 100 Eyes in the Sky by 2020
 Tue Nov 16, 2004 01:52 AM ET
 [EXCERPT]

BEIJING (Reuters) - China plans to launch more than 100 satellites before 
2020 to watch every corner of the country, state-run China Central 
Television quoted a government official as saying Tuesday.

A "large surveying network" would be set up to monitor water reserves, 
forests, farmland, city construction and "various activities of society," a 
government official said without elaborating.

"The aim is that, at any time and any place, we can obtain necessary data on 
any event through watching the Earth from space," said Shao Liqin, an 
official with the Ministry of Science and Technology.

(snip)