Geostationary
BEIDOU-3S IGSO-2S
Navigation Technology Test · CNSA / China
Right now
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The second BeiDou-3 pre-production IGSO test satellite, validating the complete signal chain before operational deployment. China used these test satellites to qualify its next-generation hydrogen maser atomic clocks — the timekeeping heart of any navigation satellite — which needed to demonstrate the stability required for centimeter-level positioning. The quality of China's space-grade atomic clocks, once considered inferior to Western equivalents, has now reached world-class performance.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Geostationaryappears to hang motionless over one spot on the equator
- Altitude
- 22,068–22,411 mi (35,515–36,067 km)
- Inclination
- 49.1°
- One orbit
- 23.9 hoursabout one orbit a day
- NORAD ID
- 40938
- Int’l designator
- 2015-053A
- Launched
- 2015
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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