Photo: VCG

China's Gaofen-7, a new Earth observation satellite, officially entered into service on Thursday, with "beyond imagination" applications, from measuring the height of Mount Qomolangma (Mount Everest) in the Himalayas, to spotting illegal construction hidden in forests, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC) said on Thursday.

"Since its launch in November 2019, the Gaofen-7 has already proven its value in a number of scenarios thanks to its sub-meter level accuracy," CASC, the satellite's developer, said on its official WeChat account on Thursday. 

The Gaofen-7 is China's first civil-use optical transmission three-dimensional surveying and mapping satellite. It was able to provide a 1:10,000 scale satellite 3D mapping service in May this year that contributed to the successful measurement of the height of Mt Qomolangma, the world's highest peak.

It also has three-dimensional capabilities that helped spot an illegal building in a forest outside Mudanjiang, a city in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. 

The Gaofen-7 belongs to China's Gaofen series of Earth observation satellites - an advanced land, atmosphere and ocean observation system that's expected to be completed this year. The system has helped to reduce China's dependence on foreign remote sensing satellite data.

In 2019, sister satellite Gaofen-6 produced a precision photo of the Three Gorges Dam, effectively debunking a myth perpetrated on social media that the world's biggest hydropower project was becoming deformed.

In addition to catering to the demands of domestic customers, the Gaofen-7 satellite will also offer reliable spatial information support to customers in countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative, the company said.