CLASSIFIED
YAOGAN-37
Chinese Military Reconnaissance (Classified) · CASC / PLA
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A Chinese military satellite from early 2023, part of the continuously expanding Yaogan reconnaissance fleet that now encompasses optical, synthetic aperture radar, electronic intelligence, and video imaging variants. Yaogan-37 carries the broader strategic significance of the complete Yaogan program: a comprehensive, multi-sensor space-based intelligence system that gives the PLA near-continuous awareness of adversary military activities across the Indo-Pacific. Individual satellite designations in the Yaogan series are often deliberately opaque — it is not always clear from the name alone whether a given Yaogan satellite is optical, SAR, or ELINT — part of China's deliberate policy of maintaining ambiguity about specific military satellite capabilities.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 317–331 mi (509–533 km)
- Inclination
- 43.2°
- One orbit
- 94.9 minutes15.2 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 55244
- Int’l designator
- 2023-006C
- Launched
- 2023
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 15 Sep 2026.
More classified
- YAOGAN-39 01AChinese Military Reconnaissance (Mixed-Sensor Triplet)
- YAOGAN-39 01BChinese Military Reconnaissance (Mixed-Sensor Triplet)
- YAOGAN-39 01CChinese Military Reconnaissance (Mixed-Sensor Triplet)
- YAOGAN-39 02AChinese Military Reconnaissance (Mixed-Sensor Triplet)
- YAOGAN-39 02BChinese Military Reconnaissance (Mixed-Sensor Triplet)
- YAOGAN-39 02CChinese Military Reconnaissance (Mixed-Sensor Triplet)