The CBERS-4A satellite is expected to arrive in Beijing on 30 May, before moving on to the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, the Brazilian press reported on Monday.

The satellite, after a shipment was postponed on 10 May for logistical reasons, was scheduled to have been placed aboard a Boeing 747-400F rented for that purpose and parked at the airport of São José dos Campos, in the state of São Paulo.

CBERS-4A is the sixth satellite of the Brazil-China partnership and took four years to be built at a cost of 190 million reais for Brazil, replacing the satellite that is currently in orbit, the CBERS-4.

The G1 website reported that the initial idea was to put the satellite into orbit in 2018 when CBERS-4 would end, but a number of budget problems delayed the launch until this year.

CBERS-4A, which is expected to have a five-year life, is scheduled to orbit the Earth 14 times a day and focus on capturing images of deforestation in the Amazon, locating fires and providing data to the agricultural sector. (Macauhub)