Science
SDGSAT 1
Chinese Nighttime Imaging Satellite (UN Sustainable Development Goals) · Chinese Academy of Sciences (CBAS)
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SDGSAT-1 does something almost no other satellite bothers with: it photographs Earth in the dark. Its 'glimmer imager' is sensitive enough to capture city lights, fishing boat lanterns, and offshore oil rig flares at night in full color — data China built specifically to track all 17 of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, from poverty to clean energy, by literally watching how brightly and where humanity lights up the planet after sunset.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 314–321 mi (506–517 km)
- Inclination
- 97.3°
- One orbit
- 94.7 minutes15.2 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 49387
- Int’l designator
- 2021-100A
- Launched
- 2021
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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