FSW-2
Official name FSW-2 2
Alternative name FSW-2 2
Cospar ID 1994-037A
Norad ID 23145
Launch date 1994-07-03
Launch site JSC
Launch vehicle CZ-2D
Country/Organization China
Type application Reconnaissance, Earth observation
RCS size LARGE
Decay date 1994-09-13
Shape Cone + Cyl
Mass (kg) 2735.38
Diameter (m) 2.2
Height (m) 4.64
Span (m^2) 4.64
Lifetime 16 days
Contractors CAST
Propulsion FG-23A retro motor
Power Batteries

The FSW-2 (Fanhui Shi Weixing) or JB-1B series was the second series of chinese recoverable satellites. These satellites feature cameras for Earth observation.

The FSW-2 has a blunt conical shape with a cylindrical section with a length of 4.6 m, a maximum diameter of 2.2 m and a mass of up to 3000 kg. The vehicle consists of two sections: the 1.5 m long reentry module and the 1.6 m long equipment and retro module. The satellite is battery powered. The FSW-0 satellites have no in orbit maneuvering capability. They are launched without fairing.

Compared with the first-generation reconnaissance satellites, China's second-generation satellites showed great improvements in terms of their orbit life, satellite picture resolution ratio, film load and effective utilization of films. Due to these factors, the volume of information collected by each of these satellites was at least 13 times more than that collected by first-generation satellites.

These satellites were reportedly high-resolution detailed survey satellites. They featured a high resolution camera syszem for film development on Earth and likely a lower resolution CCD (50 m resolution) camera systems for near-realtime images.

The FSW-2 satellites have a modest in orbit maneuvering capability.

Launch vehicle for the FSW-2 series was the new CZ-2D rocket. The first mission took place on 9 August 1992. All were successful.

Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
FSW-2 1 1992-051A 1992-08-09 JSC CZ-2D
FSW-2 2 1994-037A 1994-07-03 JSC CZ-2D
FSW-2 3 1996-059A 1996-10-20 JSC CZ-2D