Science
CFOSAT
Chinese-French Ocean Wind & Wave Science Satellite · CNSA (China) / CNES (France)
Right now
LiveIt moves every second. See exactly where it is — worked out from its orbit, on your own device — on the live 3D globe.
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- Altitude
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CFOSAT (China-France Oceanography Satellite), a joint Chinese-French mission launched in 2018 to measure ocean surface wind and wave conditions simultaneously — the first satellite ever built with instruments specifically designed to characterize both at once, giving forecasters a genuinely new tool for predicting how storms will actually behave once they reach the open ocean, where wind and waves interact in ways ground-based models struggle to capture.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 322–325 mi (519–523 km)
- Inclination
- 97.4°
- One orbit
- 94.9 minutes15.2 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 43662
- Int’l designator
- 2018-083A
- Launched
- 2018
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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