BEIJING, May. 9 (China Space News) — China's oceanic satellite Haiyang-1B has been operating in orbit for more than seven years, much longer than its designed life-span, according to its designer — China Spacesat Co., Ltd.

Launched on April 11, 2007, Haiyang-1B is China's second ocean color remote-sensing satellite. It is operated by China's State Oceanic Administration.

Since its launch, the satellite has acquired a large quantity of multi-spectrum remote-sensing data about the color, temperature and coast zone environment of the oceans, playing an irreplaceable role in the national economic construction, especially in marine economic development, marine environment monitoring, coastal resource investigation and oceanic pollution monitoring.

According to the country's maritime remote-sensing satellite plan, two more ocean color satellites will be launched to replace Haiyang-1B. China Spacesat Co., Ltd. is accelerating its pace of research and development. The new satellites will greatly improve China's ability to search and rescue on sea, and to observe oil spills.