CLASSIFIED
YAOGAN-30 02A
Chinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Triplet Formation) · CASC / PLA
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The lead satellite of China's first Yaogan-30 ELINT triplet — the opening salvo of China's most prolific naval surveillance satellite program. Launched September 29, 2017 on a Long March 2C, Yaogan-30 A and its two companions operate in a 370-mile, 35° inclined orbit that provides coverage of the Pacific and Indian Oceans — the operating areas of US Navy carrier strike groups that China's anti-ship ballistic missiles are designed to target. The triplet formation allows three satellites to compare the time-of-arrival of radio signals from the same emitter and triangulate its precise location — geolocating ships by their radar and communications emissions even when optically invisible under cloud cover or darkness. Western analysts consider the Yaogan-30 series the Chinese equivalent of the US Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS), part of the kill chain that would cue Dong Feng 21 and Dong Feng 26 anti-ship ballistic missiles.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 351–353 mi (564–568 km)
- Inclination
- 35.0°
- One orbit
- 95.8 minutes15.0 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 42945
- Int’l designator
- 2017-058A
- Launched
- 2017
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
More classified
- YAOGAN-30 02BChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Yaogan-30 Triplet)
- YAOGAN-30 02CChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Yaogan-30 Triplet)
- YAOGAN-30 03AChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Yaogan-30 Triplet)
- YAOGAN-30 03BChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Yaogan-30 Triplet)
- YAOGAN-30 03CChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Yaogan-30 Triplet)
- YAOGAN-30 04AChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Yaogan-30 Triplet)