BEIJING, October 8. /TASS/. China plans the 2019 launch of a series of maritime surveillance satellites to monitor ships, drilling platforms, coastal and sea resources and natural disasters, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

The Haiyang-3 satellites will use radar technology to allow monitoring at any time of the day and through any weather conditions, deputy director with the national satellite ocean application service Lin Mingsen said. They will be able to see meter-long objects from space and generate high-definition images of land and sea.

“These satellites will play an important role in stronger protection of Chinese marine rights, protection of law and order at sea, use of marine resources and monitoring and control over rescue operations away from the country’s coast,” Xinhua quoted Lin as saying.