CLASSIFIED
YAOGAN-47
Chinese Military Reconnaissance (Conventional LEO Imaging) · CASC / PLA
Right now
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Yaogan-47, launched December 9, 2025 on a Long March 4B into a conventional sun-synchronous low Earth orbit — a return to the traditional Yaogan imaging regime after the unprecedented medium-Earth-orbit deployments of Yaogan-45 and Yaogan-46 just months earlier. Analyst Jonathan McDowell described Yaogan-47 simply as 'a conventional large LEO imaging spy satellite,' suggesting China is running its wide-area MEO surveillance experiment (Yaogan-45/46) in parallel with, rather than as a replacement for, its established high-resolution LEO reconnaissance satellite line.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 309–312 mi (498–501 km)
- Inclination
- 97.5°
- One orbit
- 94.5 minutes15.2 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 66988
- Int’l designator
- 2025-289A
- Launched
- 2025
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
More classified
- YAOGAN-50 01Chinese Military Satellite (Assessed Reconnaissance, Unusual Orbit)
- YAOGAN-50 02Chinese Military Satellite (Assessed Reconnaissance, Unusual Orbit)
- YAOGAN-7Earth Observation (Dual-Use)
- YAOGAN-8Chinese Military Reconnaissance (Early Yaogan — EO/SAR)
- YAOGAN-9 01AChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (JB-8 Founding Triplet)
- YAOGAN-9 01BChinese ELINT Naval Surveillance (JB-8 Founding Triplet)