Can they be trusted? China’s satellites set to offer global remote sensing services

China’s satellites at an earth observation constellation are set to provide global remote sensing services.

According to a local news source on 3 March, the satellites will be targeted at the global market and compete with international leading commercial remote sensing satellites operated by providers such as the U.S. Maxar and Europe’s Airbus.

Ready to serve

The constellation was recently expanded with two new satellites launched into orbit in late February to increase its capacity for the task ahead.

According to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) which developed the constellation, it can support maritime traffic monitoring and law-enforcement surveillance as well as quickly obtain high-resolution images of disaster-affected areas after floods, fires and earthquakes.

The two new satellites, Siwei Gaojing-1 03 and Siwei Gaojing-1 04 sent their first data which were received by ground stations last Saturday, with the images featuring clear texture details of the ground objects, realistic colors and rich layers.

An official source said the two new satellites are currently the commercial remote sensing satellites with the highest spatial resolution and geometric accuracy in China.

The constellation can cover the world six times a year and the entirety of China 24 times annually, and its operator, Chang Guang has been cooperating with more than 130 overseas users. 

Can they be trusted?

China’s constellation and remote sensing capabilities sound really impressive, but can they be trusted to offer their services without exploring the opportunity to spy on their clients?

The country has a bad reputation when it comes to technology, as many countries suspect them of stealing data. Even personal businesses like TikTok and DeepSeek are under suspicion. 

For example, many countries have taken action against DeepSeek on grounds of data security concerns, so it will be much harder to trust the Chinese government satellites to provide surveillance services.