China’s first dedicated national carbon-monitoring satellite constellation was formally announced on 17 June 2026 at the Fourth Meishan City Satellite Application Industry Development Conference. Branded the “Tianjian Constellation”, the programme is led by Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in collaboration with multiple partner institutions. The first experimental satellite, Tianjian-1, has completed system integration testing and is scheduled for launch in October 2026; the full 12-satellite network is targeted for operational completion by 2029.
The constellation carries ultra-resolution spatial grating spectroscopy instruments capable of distinguishing emission differences at sub-city and industrial-park resolution. Among the claimed technical breakthroughs is an on-board carbon-monitoring AI foundation modelcombined with high-speed inter-satellite laser communication links, which together compress the traditional monthly carbon-data update cycle to minute-level processing. The system is designed to identify anomalous emission points and track real-time changes in both carbon sources and sinks across high-priority zones subjected to repeated daily scanning.
Developers describe three intended application tiers: at the government level, supporting regional compliance assessments under China’s dual-carbon policy goals and enterprise carbon-accounting ledger preparation; at the industry level, delivering tailored carbon-accounting and real-time monitoring services to high-emitting sectors such as steel and energy; and internationally, supplying independently traceable domestic monitoring data to underpin global climate governance and international carbon-stocktaking processes.
Carbon Market Context
- The research’s related policy discourse includes two Ministry of Ecology and Environment releases covering China’s stated climate commitments and its diplomatic engagement with the EU at the UN Climate Action Summit (September 2019, China’s Position and Action and the Cañete–Xie bilateral); these contextualise the constellation’s declared aim of providing internationally credible monitoring data to support UN-level carbon inventories, though the connection is editorial background, not a claim made in the source.
Source
- 天鉴碳监测卫星星座正式发布，分钟级碳监测填补国内天基技术空白碳交易网, 2026-06-18