Chinese scientists announced on 18 May 1998 that they were designing an earthquake early warning satellite system, including a constellation of 10 small satellites in low earth orbit. Three of the ten satellites would be equipped with microwave radiometers and the rest with hot infrared scan radiometers. China has made remarkable progress in earthquake prediction by analyzing satellite infrared images. Of 80 predicted earthquakes in recent years, 41 occurred. The difficulty in collecting under-cloud data was expected to be solved by the new satellite system.

• Chen Lan, Dragon in Space, . The best source anywhere for information on current news regarding the Chinese space program. Accessed at: http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/1921/.