CLASSIFIED
YAOGAN-40 01C
Chinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Next-Gen Triplet) · CASC / PLA
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The third member of China's Yaogan-40 01 ELINT triplet, a newer-generation naval surveillance satellite launched in 2023. The Yaogan-40 series appears to continue the Yaogan-30 ELINT mission but in a polar orbit providing global rather than regional coverage — an upgrade that reflects China's expanding naval operations beyond the western Pacific. As the PLA Navy deploys carrier strike groups into the Indian Ocean, the South Atlantic, and potentially further afield, the need for a global ocean surveillance satellite constellation rather than a regionally focused one becomes strategically necessary. Yaogan-40's polar orbit provides coverage of every ocean on Earth within hours.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 530–533 mi (853–857 km)
- Inclination
- 86.0°
- One orbit
- 101.9 minutes14.1 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 57833
- Int’l designator
- 2023-139D
- Launched
- 2023
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
More classified
- YAOGAN-40 02AChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Polar Orbit Triplet)
- YAOGAN-40 02BChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Polar Orbit Triplet)
- YAOGAN-40 02CChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Polar Orbit Triplet)
- YAOGAN-40 03AChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Polar Orbit Triplet)
- YAOGAN-40 03BChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Polar Orbit Triplet)
- YAOGAN-40 03CChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (Polar Orbit Triplet)