The China Center for Resources Satellite Data and Application (CCRSDA) announced in Beijing Thursday that it will launch six geographical survey satellites in five years.

The center will also establish a high-resolution land observation project and build a data center for the satellites.

Set up in 1991, the CCRSDA completed China's first application system for resources satellites in August 1999. CBERS-1, the first in a series of earth resources satellites, was launched two months later.

Data from the satellites has been used in agriculture, forestry, city planning, environmental protection and disaster monitoring.

(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2006)