CLASSIFIED
YAOGAN-8
Chinese Military Reconnaissance (Early Yaogan — EO/SAR) · CASC / PLA
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One of China's early second-generation reconnaissance satellites, launched in 2009 as part of the rapidly maturing Yaogan program. Yaogan-8 belongs to a generation of individual (non-triplet) Yaogan satellites that carried either high-resolution electro-optical cameras or synthetic aperture radar for military imaging missions. At 15+ years old and still being tracked, Yaogan-8 has outlasted its designed operational life — its presence in the catalog reflects either continued residual functionality or the value of maintaining it as a tracked object for space situational awareness purposes. It is one of the oldest operational Yaogan satellites still in orbit, a relic of China's initial push to build genuine space-based reconnaissance capability in the mid-2000s.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 764–785 mi (1,230–1,263 km)
- Inclination
- 100.2°
- One orbit
- 110.3 minutes13.1 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 36121
- Int’l designator
- 2009-072A
- Launched
- 2009
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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