Geostationary
SHIJIAN-21 (SJ-21)
Technology Demo / Satellite Servicing / Anti-Satellite Capable · CNSA (Dual-Use Assessed)
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The most operationally significant Chinese GEO technology demonstration satellite. In 2022, Shijian-21 successfully docked with a dead Chinese satellite in graveyard orbit and relocated it to a different parking slot — demonstrating China's ability to maneuver non-cooperative objects in space. This capability — grasping, moving, and releasing another satellite — is directly applicable to removing adversary satellites from their operational orbits. It was observed by US Space Force and widely discussed as a milestone in Chinese anti-satellite capability development.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Geostationaryappears to hang motionless over one spot on the equator
- Altitude
- 22,102–22,385 mi (35,570–36,024 km)
- Inclination
- 5.3°
- One orbit
- 23.9 hoursabout one orbit a day
- NORAD ID
- 49330
- Int’l designator
- 2021-094A
- Launched
- 2021
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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