Yaogan

Yaogan (Chinese: 遥感卫星; pinyin: Yáogǎn wèixīng; lit.: 'Remote Sensing Satellite') is 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.^[1] 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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

Launches[edit]

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.^[5]

Satellite 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	Nov. 12, 2007	SAR	635–637 km 97.8 degrees	32289	2007-055A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 4	JB-6-2	Dec. 1, 2008	Optical	642–660 km 97.9 degrees	33446	2008-061A	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 2D
Yaogan 5	JB-10-1	Dec. 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	Dec. 9, 2009	Optical	630–666 km 97.8 degrees	36110	2009-069A	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 2D
Yaogan 8	JB-9-1	Dec.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	Aug. 10, 2010	SAR	629–627 km 97.8 degrees	36834	2010-038A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 11	JB-6-4	Sept. 22, 2010	Optical	670–625 km 98.0 degrees	37165	2010-047A	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 2D
Yaogan 12	JB-10-2	Nov. 9, 2011	Optical	479–495 km 97.3 degrees	37875	2011-066B	CAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4B
Yaogan 13	JB-7-2	Nov. 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	Nov. 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	Sept. 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	Oct. 29, 2013	SAR	509 km 97.5 degrees	39363	2013-059A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 2C
Yaogan 19	JB-9-3	Nov. 20, 2013	Optical	1119–1204 km 100.4 degrees	39410	2013-065A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 20A, 20B, 20C	JB-8-4	Aug. 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	Sept. 8, 2014	Optical	481–492 km 97.4 degrees	40143	2014-053A	CAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4B
Yaogan 22	JB-9-4	Oct. 20, 2014	Optical	1198–1207 km 100.3 degrees	40275	2014-063A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 23	JB-7-4	Nov. 14, 2014	SAR	510–514 km 97.3 degrees	40305	014-071A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 2C
Yaogan 24	JB 6-5	Nov. 20, 2014	Optical	629–654 km 97.9 degrees	40310	2014-072A	CAST	Jiuquan	Long March 2D
Yaogan 25A, 25B, 25C	JB-8-5	Dec. 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	Dec. 27, 2014	Optical	482–488 km 97.4 degrees	40362	2014-088A	CAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4B
Yaogan 27	JB-9-5	Aug. 27, 2015	Optical	1201–1214 km 100.4 degrees	40878	2015-040A	SAST	Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 28	JB-11-2	Nov. 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		Sept. 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		Nov. 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		Dec. 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		Jan. 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		Oct. 9, 2018	Probable ELINT		43642 43643	2018-077A 2018-077B		Jiuquan	Long March 2C/YZ-1S
Yaogan 33		May 23, 2019	(Launch Failure)					Taiyuan	Long March 4C
Yaogan 30N, 30Q, 30P		July 25, 2019			44449 44451 44450	2019-045A 2019-045C 2019-045B		Xichang	Long March 2C
Yaogan-30 Group 6 #1-3		March 23, 2020						Xichang	Long March 2C
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.

References[edit]

^ Barbosa, Rui C. (April 22, 2009). "Chinese launch again with YaoGan Weixing-6 remote sensing satellite". News article. NasaSpaceflight.com. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
^ "YaoGan Weixing / Remote Sensing Satellites". Web article. SinoDefence.com. February 20, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
^ "China launches "Yaogan VI" remote-sensing satellite". News article. Xinhua. April 22, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
^ "China Launches Yaogan-4 Satellite". Magazine article. Asian Surveying and Mapping. December 2, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
^ "Yaogan 1 Erupts". Arms Control Wonk. February 11, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-11.

[NSF-1] Barbosa, Rui C. (April 22, 2009). "Chinese launch again with YaoGan Weixing-6 remote sensing satellite". News article. NasaSpaceflight.com. Retrieved 2009-04-23.

[SD-2] "YaoGan Weixing / Remote Sensing Satellites". Web article. SinoDefence.com. February 20, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-24.

[XNA-3] "China launches "Yaogan VI" remote-sensing satellite". News article. Xinhua. April 22, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-24.

[ASM-4] "China Launches Yaogan-4 Satellite". Magazine article. Asian Surveying and Mapping. December 2, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-24.

[5] "Yaogan 1 Erupts". Arms Control Wonk. February 11, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-11.

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Yaogan

Launches[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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