Beijing-3

Beijing-3 is the third generation of the Beijing series of very-high-resolution optical Earth observation satellites, invested in and operated by Twenty First Century Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd. (21AT) and launched from 2021 onwards; 21AT says the series was built through domestic and international cooperation. The series includes Beijing-3A (launched 11 June 2021; 0.5 m panchromatic, 2 m multispectral, 23.5 km swath), Beijing-3B "Nanning-1", marketed internationally as BJ3N3 (launched 24 August 2022; 0.3 m panchromatic, 1.2 m multispectral), and the four-satellite Beijing-3C constellation (launched 20 May 2024; 0.5 m panchromatic, 2 m multispectral), developed with DFH Satellite Co.

The agile satellites support arbitrary-track, multi-target, multi-strip and multi-angle imaging, with same-orbit stereo and tri-stereo acquisition. Imagery received at 21AT's ground stations is supplied as Level 1 sensor-corrected products (radiometric and geometric correction, band registration and MTF restoration) packaged with RPC parameters and XML metadata; for Beijing-3, the number of stereo pairs and the base-to-height ratio can be customised to the survey area. Through 21AT Asia, the imagery is also offered as ortho-ready (L2A) and orthorectified (L4) products, from the archive or by tasking.

21AT positions the data for land and resource management, agriculture, ecological environment monitoring, urban planning and real-scene 3D mapping. The Beijing-3 satellite engineering and application project, submitted jointly with DFH Satellite Co., received a first prize in the Beijing Science and Technology Progress Awards announced in November 2025.