Orbital Traffic All objects

CLASSIFIED

YAOGAN-36 05B

Chinese Military SAR Imaging (Assessed Triplet Constellation) · CASC / PLA

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Second satellite of Yaogan-36 group 05. If Western assessments are correct, this satellite is one node in a radar and signals net that can locate a ship at sea to within meters — a capability with an obvious military application that China has never acknowledged possessing. If they're wrong, it's mapping rice paddies. The uncertainty is not an accident of poor intelligence — it's the point.

Its orbit

Orbit
Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
Altitude
316–336 mi (509–540 km)
Inclination
35.0°
One orbit
95.0 minutes15.2 orbits a day
NORAD ID
57454
Int’l designator
2023-106C
Launched
2023

Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.

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