On May 29, 1976, the Institute of Electrics of Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS) began to prepare the laboratory of information science and microwave remote sensing technology, which is the first laboratory specialized in the research and development of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system in China. In 1978, the prototype of SAR was developed, and the ground test was carried out from September to November.

On September 17, 1979, the airborne SAR prototype developed by the IECAS successfully had its first flight in Shanxi Wugong airport, and obtained China’s first batch of SAR images, marking that China has become one of the few countries that have mastered the strategic high technology of SAR.

In 1979, the airborne SAR prototype developed by the IECAS had its first flight and acquired China’s first batch of SAR images.