General introduction on payloads, ground segment and data application of Fengyun 3A

Fengyun 3 series are the second-generation polar-orbiting meteorological satellites of China. The first satellite of Fengyun 3 series, FY-3A, is a research and development satellite with 11 payloads onboard. FY-3A was launched successfully at 11 a.m. on May 27, 2008. Since the launch, FY-3A data have been applied to the services on the flood season and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. In this paper, the platform, payloads, and ground segment designs are introduced. Some typical images during the on-orbit commission test are rendered. Improvements of FY-3A on Earth observations are summarized at the end by comparing them with FY-1D, the last satellite of Fengyun 1 series.