Nation's satellite data reception coverage reaches new heights

For Shi Shengpu and his colleagues, the upcoming Spring Festival carries special significance — it will be the first time they celebrate the holiday at the Mohe Satellite Data Receiving Station of the China Remote Sensing Satellite Ground Station, which commenced operations on Dec 12 in China's northernmost city, Mohe, Heilongjiang province.

Developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Aerospace Information Research Institute, the Mohe station is the highest-latitude satellite data receiving facility in China, representing a significant leap in China's land observation satellite data reception capabilities.

Taking advantage of its unique geographical position, it has expanded China's satellite reception coverage by approximately 4 million square kilometers, according to Shi, director of the station.

The breakthrough significantly enhances China's observational capabilities in polar and high-latitude regions, improving both the efficiency and coverage of satellite data acquisition, which is crucial for applications such as land surveys, environmental protection, weather forecasting, and disaster monitoring.

While remote sensing satellites orbit the Earth and provide a wealth of valuable observational data, the ground stations receive and process the information to meet human needs for understanding the planet.

The Mohe station has built three satellite data receiving systems boasting a capability of receiving S/X dual-band and dual-polarization data, with each system processing an average of more than 24 tracks per day.

The station currently supports data reception tasks for 25 national land observation satellites, including those in the resource, environmental disaster reduction series, and high-resolution series.

With near-real-time transmission, fully automated reception capabilities and key technical indicators reaching international advanced levels, the station successfully had received data from 36,001 satellite tracks, acquiring over 1,775 terabytes of data, with a data reception success rate of over 99.79 percent by the end of 2025.

"It also extends the daily reception time of single polar-orbiting satellites by about 24 minutes, an increase of over 20 percent," Shi said.

In fact, Shi and his colleagues have spent over three years on the construction of the Mohe station.

"Ahead of the 2023 Spring Festival, we received the notification to work with the engineering and technical team from the Miyun station to advance the construction of the Mohe station and set up an emergency system for data reception verification," said Shi. "Almost at the same time, the reports about a record low temperature of minus 53 C in Mohe presented daunting challenges ahead, but we were determined to meet them."

Mohe's extremely cold climate posed the greatest challenge to the construction.

With average monthly temperatures below 0 C for over seven months each year and a frost-free period of only about 90 days, builders had to race against time.

"In April 2023, the snow began to melt, and by mid-May, after the melted snow and water levels had receded to safe conditions, technical personnel could finally enter the site," said Shi. "Despite the muddy conditions in August, engineering and technical personnel worked in tents for two months to complete the construction of a 7.3-meter fixed antenna.

"They then quickly set up a temporary system with a 7.3-meter mobile antenna. By October 5, as the main structure of the comprehensive research building was topped off, the two antenna systems successfully began data reception, laying a solid foundation for subsequent construction," he said.

During the winter of 2023, the Mohe station underwent its first winter trial operation, with extreme coldness and prolonged darkness becoming daily challenges for the staff.

"By 3 pm, nightfall had already descended and we had to trek through knee-deep snow between the dormitory and the station, a journey that took half an hour," he said. "In the unfenced area, wild animal tracks were common sights, and falling into hidden snow pits was almost routine."

Winter atmospheric turbulence testing was another arduous task.

"To collect crucial data for laser communication services, we had to work outdoors at night," he said. "Even with windproof tents in place, the biting cold seeped in, frequently causing our phones to power off."

The testing continued until the end of November even as the temperature inside the tents dropped to minus 20 C and equipment could no longer operate.

In the spring and summer of 2024, the engineering and infrastructure teams entered the site simultaneously, where they held weekly meetings to maintain close collaboration and track progress.

The completion of the research building brought valuable time for system construction.

By October, before the winter set in, all systems were installed and moved into the machine room, making the transition to the trial operation stage.

"By then, the Mohe station had been completely transformed — solid concrete roads replaced muddy paths, and the clean, warm machine room marked the end of the tent era for testing," said Shi.

Their perseverance paid off. In May 2025, the first phase of the Mohe station's construction was basically completed; on June 5, it successfully passed the system site acceptance review; and on Dec 12, it officially began operations.

As a core participant in the project, Shi remarked, "All the hardships have turned into a sense of achievement and honor as we witness the Mohe station playing an important role in the national network."

Built and put into operation in December 1986, the China Remote Sensing Satellite Ground Station undertakes the data reception tasks of all civil land observation satellites and space science satellites, achieving real-time and seamless data reception covering the entire territory of China.