BEIJING, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Beijing Normal University (BNU) and China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) on Friday signed the cooperation agreement and released the plan to develop the polar observation microsat (BNU-1).

The microsat BNU-1 will be jointly developed by the BNU, CGWIC and Shenzhen Aerospace Dongfanghong Development Ltd. It will be the first small satellite for scientific experiment a Chinese university would have developed using remote sensing, to study the polar climate and for environmental monitoring.

The BNU-1, weighing 20 kilograms, will monitor the Antarctic and Arctic once in every two days and capture the multi-spectral remote sensing data with high quality and high frequency in the polar regions. It can provide reliable data service for vessels navigating icy areas.

The microsat is also expected to monitor the middle or lower latitude areas. It is scheduled to be launched in December.

China published a white paper on its Arctic policy on Jan. 26, pledging to support and encourage research activity in the Arctic by constantly increasing investment in scientific research, building modernized research platforms, and improving the capacity in and level of the Arctic research.