Yaogan

Yaogan (Chinese: 遥感式卫星; pinyin: yáogǎnshì wèixīng; literally: 'Remote Sensing Type Satellite'; sometimes written YaoGan) refers to a series of Chinese reconnaissance satellites launched in the early 21st century.

Chinese media describe the satellites as intended for "scientific experiments, land survey, crop yield assessment, and disaster monitoring". Western analysts suspect that they are also used for military purposes. Analysts believe that each satellite employs either optical or synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors and that the SAR satellites are of the Jian Bing-5 series.

The SAR satellite was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Space Flight Technology(SAST). The electro-optical digital imaging satellite was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). It is carried into space atop a Chang Zheng (Long March) rocket.

Yaogan satellites have been launched from both the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China's northern Shanxi province and the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's northwestern Gansu province.

Launches

Yaogan 1 is believed to have broken up around February 4, 2010 almost four years after it was launched. Because of the small number of pieces and low orbital speeds, it was likely due to an internal explosion, not a high-speed collision.

Name	Military designation	Launch date	Believed type	Approximate orbit	NORAD ID	COSPAR designator	Contractor	Launch site	Launcher
Yaogan 1	JB-5-1	April 27, 2006	SAR	635–637 km, 97.9 degrees	29092	2006-015A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4B
Yaogan 2	JB-6-1	May 25, 2007	Optical	639–663 km, 97.9 degrees	31490	2007-019A	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 2D
Yaogan 3	JB-5-2	November 12, 2007	SAR	635–637 km, 97.8 degrees	32289	2007-055A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 4	JB-6-2	December 1, 2008	Optical	642–660 km, 97.9 degrees	33446	2008-061A	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 2D
Yaogan 5	JB-10-1	December 15, 2008	Optical	494–501 km, 97.3 degrees	33456	2008-064A	CAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4B
Yaogan 6	JB-7-1	April 22, 2009	SAR	518–519 km, 97.6 degrees	34839	2009-021A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 2C
Yaogan 7	JB-6-3	December 9, 2009	Optical	630–666 km, 97.8 degrees	36110	2009-069A	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 2D
Yaogan 8	JB-9-1	December 15, 2009	Optical	1200–1212 km, 100.5 degrees	36121	2009-072A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 9A, 9B, 9C	JB-8-1	March 5, 2010	Probable ELINT	1089–1107 km, 63.4 degrees (Orbit of Yaogan 9C)	36413 36414 36415	2010-009A 2010-009B 2010-009C	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 10	JB-5-3	August 10, 2010	SAR	629–627 km, 97.8 degrees	36834	2010-038A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 11	JB-6-4	September 22, 2010	Optical	670–625 km, 98.0 degrees	37165	2010-047A	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 2D
Yaogan 12	JB-10-2	November 9, 2011	Optical	479–495 km, 97.3 degrees	37875	2011-066B	CAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4B
Yaogan 13	JB-7-2	November 30, 2011	SAR	502–504 km, 97.4 degrees	37941	2011-072A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 2C
Yaogan 14	JB-11-1	May 10, 2012	Optical	471–474 km, 97.3 degrees	38257	2012-021A	CAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4B
Yaogan 15	JB-9-2	May 29, 2012	Optical	1198–1204 km, 100.2 degrees	38354	2012-029A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 16A, 16B, 16C	JB-8-2	November 25, 2012	Probable ELINT	1085–1096 km, 63.4 degrees	39011 39012 39013	2012-066A 2012-066B 2012-066C	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 17A, 17B, 17C	JB-8-3	September 1, 2013	Probable ELINT	1060–1119 km, 63.4 degrees	39239 39240 39241	2013-046A 2013-046B 2013-046C	SAST	Jiuquan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 18	JB-7-3	October 29, 2013	SAR	509 km, 97.5 degrees	39363	2013-059A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 2C
Yaogan 19	JB-9-3	November 20, 2013	Optical	1119–1204 km, 100.4 degrees	39410	2013-065A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 20A, 20B, 20C	JB-8-4	August 9, 2014	Probable ELINT	1086–1092 km, 63.4 degrees	40109 40110 40111	2014-047A 2014-047B 2014-047C	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 21	JB-10-3	September 8, 2014	Optical	481–492 km, 97.4 degrees	40143	2014-053A	CAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4B
Yaogan 22	JB-9-4	October 20, 2014	Optical	1198–1207 km, 100.3 degrees	40275	2014-063A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 23	JB-7-4	November 14, 2014	SAR	510–514 km, 97.3 degrees	40305	014-071A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 2C
Yaogan 24	JB 6-5	November 20, 2014	Optical	629–654 km, 97.9 degrees	40310	2014-072A	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 2D
Yaogan 25A, 25B, 25C	JB-8-5	December 10, 2014	Probable ELINT	1091–1098 km, 63.4 degrees	40338 40339 40340	2014-080A 2014-080B 2014-080C	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 26	JB-12-1	December 27, 2014	Optical	482–488 km, 97.4 degrees	40362	2014-088A	CAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4B
Yaogan 27	JB-9-5	August 27, 2015	Optical	1201–1214 km, 100.4 degrees	40878	2015-040A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 28	JB-11-2	November 8, 2015	Optical	476–490 km, 97.3 degrees	41026	2015-064A	CAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4B
Yaogan 29		November 26, 2015	SAR	635–636 km, 97.9 degrees	41038	2015-069A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 30	JB 6-6	May 15, 2016	Optical	634–664 km, 98.0 degrees	41473	2016-029A	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 2D
Yaogan 30A, 30B, 30C		September 29, 2017	Probable ELINT	602–611 km, 35 degrees	42945 42946 42947	2017-058A 2017-058B 2017-058C		Jiuquan	Long March 2C
Yaogan 30D, 30E, 30F		November 24, 2017	Probable electro-optical	603–610 km, 35 degrees	43028 43029 43030	2017-075A 2017-075B 2017-075C		Jiuquan	Long March 2D
Yaogan 30G, 30H, 30J		December 25, 2017	Probable ELINT	602–610 km, 35 degrees	43081 43082 43083	2017-085A 2017-085B 2017-085C		Xichang	Long March 2C
Yaogan 30K, 30L, 30M		January 25, 2018	Probable ELINT	602–610 km, 35 degrees	43170 43171 43172	2018-011A 2018-011B 2018-011C		Xichang	Long March 2C
Yaogan 31A, 31B, 31C		April 10, 2018	Probable ELINT	1085–1110 km, 63.4 degrees	43275 43276 43277	2018-034A 2018-034B 2018-034C		Jiuquan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 32A, 32B		October 9, 2018	Probable ELINT		43642 43643	2018-077A 2018-077B		Jiuquan	Long March 2C/YZ-1S
Table data sourced from previously cited references, "CalSky". Web site. CalSky.com. Retrieved 2016-11-09. and "Real Time Satellite Tracking". Web site. N2YO.com. Retrieved 2016-11-09.

See also

• Kosmos (satellite)
• NOSS
• CERES (satellite)