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CLASSIFIED

SHIJIAN-26 (SJ-26)

Chinese Experimental Satellite (Assessed Dual-Use Remote Sensing) · CAST / HIT / CAS Changchun Institute of Optics

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Shijian-26, launched May 29, 2025 on a Long March 4B — a genuinely unusual satellite in China's already opaque Shijian technology demonstration series, jointly built by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology's Dongfanghong satellite division, the Harbin Institute of Technology, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Changchun Institute of Optics. Both HIT and CIOMP's commercial offshoot Chang Guang Satellite Technology are under US sanctions for alleged military technology work and providing geospatial intelligence to the Houthis and the Wagner Group — a consortium pairing that analysts flagged as a 'noteworthy' signal of the satellite's likely dual-use military purpose despite its official 'land survey and environmental management' description.

Its orbit

Orbit
Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
Altitude
300–316 mi (483–509 km)
Inclination
97.4°
One orbit
94.4 minutes15.3 orbits a day
NORAD ID
64199
Int’l designator
2025-115A
Launched
2025

Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.

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