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SpaceChina

Yaogan-29/33 radar satellites

Military radar reconnaissance satellitesIn servicePending verification
SpaceCHN
Identification silhouette. Not drawn to scale between entries.
Fact cardConfidence · Source
System
TypeMilitary radar reconnaissance satellites
ProliferationOrigin country only
Satellites5One launch failure in 2019Med[1]
First launch2015Med[1]
Orbit
Orbit regimeLEO (sun-synchronous)Med[1]
Orbit615 km × 619 km, 97.8° (Yaogan 29)Med[1]
Catalogued on orbit5Payloads with current element sets in the public catalog, active or not. Matched Yaogan-29 and Yaogan-33 series.High[2]
Active (CelesTrak)5Count in the CelesTrak active satellites list, which estimates operational status.Med[2]
Perigee619–696 kmActive satellites per CelesTrak, element epoch about 2026-11-08.High[2]
Apogee619–704 kmActive satellites per CelesTrak, element epoch about 2026-11-08.High[2]
Orbital period97.1–98.7 minActive satellites per CelesTrak, element epoch about 2026-11-08.High[2]
Inclination97.99–98.22 °Active satellites per CelesTrak, element epoch about 2026-11-08.High[2]
Catalogued satellites · 5[2]
NameNORADCOSPARPerigee kmApogee kmIncl. °Period minStatus
YAOGAN-29410382015-069A61961997.9997.1Active
YAOGAN-33 01473022020-103A69470198.0298.7Active
YAOGAN-33 02536982022-106A69569998.1898.7Active
YAOGAN-33 03577972023-136A69170498.298.7Active
YAOGAN-33 04579582023-149A69669798.2298.7Active

Mean elements at epoch 2026-11-08 or later. Perigee and apogee are computed from mean motion and eccentricity and are approximate. Status follows the CelesTrak active list.

Summary

Chinese government SAR satellites likely used for military reconnaissance; successors to the Yaogan-1 (JB-5) radar class.

Draft entry. Values come from the cited public sources and are awaiting editor verification.
CompareJSON
Operators
China
Sources
  1. Yaogan 29, 33, 33R, Gunter's Space Page
    Tier 3 · checked 2026-11-08
  2. NORAD GP element sets (current data), CelesTrak (data from the U.S. Space Force 18th/19th Space Defense Squadron catalog)
    Published/updated 2026-11-08 · Tier 1 · checked 2026-11-08
Change log
  • 2026-11-08 Entry created from cited open sources
  • 2026-11-08 Orbital elements from CelesTrak GP data (epoch about 2026-11-08): 5 catalogued, 5 active.