He said he hoped it would be able to provide full photographic coverage of the Arctic region within seven days.

Cheng Xiao, another scientist on the team, was quoted as saying that after more than a month of in-orbit debugging and testing, the satellite platforms and sensors were in good operating condition.

Developed by scientists from Sun Yat-sen University and Beijing Normal University, Ice Pathfinder weighs just 10kg (22lbs) but is equipped with high-resolution cameras and is capable of providing full coverage of both the Earth’s poles.

Once all 24 satellites are in orbit, the network will operate around the clock, delivering hourly tracking data about iceberg drifts and the collapse of ice shelves.

Ice Pathfinder is also fitted with an automatic identification system receiver, meaning it could be used to monitor ships transiting or operating in the region and provide them with information about possible navigational risks.

Beijing said earlier that any information collected by the satellite network about polar climates and environmental changes would be made available to the international research community.

China has steadily increased its investment in scientific research in the polar regions, particularly in the Arctic under its “Polar Silk Road” – part of the wider Belt and Road Initiative, President Xi Jinping’s flagship plan to boost infrastructure links across Asia, Africa and Europe.

But its research activities have also caused concern among other countries over their true purpose, experts say.

Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies based in Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said that the information Beijing promised to make available to the global scientific community could also be used for other things.

“These space-based capabilities will augment other terrestrial sensors and enhance Beijing’s understanding of a whole set of natural and man-made conditions in the region,” he said.

Such meteorological, hydrographical, magnetic and acoustic data would be useful to both military and non-military Chinese agencies that “have a stake in Arctic activities”.

Since its first research and scientific expeditions to the Arctic in the 1990s, China, which describes itself as a “near Arctic state”, has emerged as one of the most significant newcomers to the resource-rich region.

China has research stations in Iceland and on the Norwegian archipelago Svalbard, a satellite receiving station in Sweden – its first ever overseas – and has set up a joint centre for Arctic space observation and data sharing with Finland.

Chinese firms have also been active in building pipelines and ports in the region, mostly in cooperation with Russian partners.

The Chinese icebreaker Xuelong II is set to start its 11th polar expedition to the Arctic next month.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Satellite sends back first Arctic images

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