China launches new set of classified Yaogan-43 satellites

HELSINKI — China launched a second group of classified Yaogan-43 satellites late Monday, adding to a group of nine satellites already in orbit.

A Long March 4B rocket lifted off from the inland Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China, at 9:22 p.m. Eastern, Sept. 2 (0122 UTC, Sept. 3), rising above fog-shrouded hills surrounding the spaceport. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) confirmed launch success within an hour of launch. The announcement revealed the mission to be Yaogan-43 (02).

No details regarding the satellites were released. The satellites were described by CASC and Chinese state media as “mainly used for carrying out tests on new technologies of low orbit constellations.” 

The terse description was similar to that issued for the launch of the Yaogan-43 (01) group launched in August. The lack of transparency suggests a dual-use or military nature of the group.

The mission patch for the previous mission indicated nine stars, with nine satellites later cataloged in orbit by U.S. Space Force’s Space Delta 2. The patch for Monday’s launch contained six stars. In Chinese, the character for ‘star’ is often used interchangeably with ‘satellite. 

The Yaogan-43 (02) satellites were developed by CASC’s Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST).

Official social media posts suggest that GalaxySpace, a commercial satellite manufacturer and operator, and HITSAT, under the Harbin Institute of Technology, may have been involved in the mission. IAMCAS under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and MinoSpace, a commercial spacecraft maker, were believed to be involved in the prior mission.

SAST also provided the Long March 4B hypergolic launcher for the mission. The launcher used a wider, 4.2-meter-diameter payload fairing, as with the previous launch.

Yaogan background

The objectives and uses of the satellites are unclear. The Yaogan-43 (01) satellites are in similar, roughly circular 500-kilometer-altitude low Earth orbits with inclinations of 35 degrees as Yaogan-35, 36, 39 and 42 series satellites. 

Yaogan (“remote sensing”) satellites are thought to be for users including military customers. Few details, if any, are available about the satellites. They are typically described as being for purposes including land survey, crop yield estimation, environmental management, meteorological warning and forecasting, and disaster prevention and reduction or “electromagnetic environment detection and related tests.” 

In general, the various series of Yaogan satellites are understood to include optical imaging, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and electronic intelligence (ELINT) satellites. This combination provides high-resolution imagery and all-weather and all-day and night imagery, along with the collection of electronic signals from radar, communication systems and other electronic devices, with coverage of both land and sea. 

Monday’s launch was the 39th Chinese orbital launch attempt of 2024. It follows last week’s third Ceres-1 commercial solid rocket sea launch. CASC stated early this year that it targeted launching around 70 times across 2024. A further 30 launches were planned by commercial actors, however only six have so far been conducted. The unintended liftoff of a Tianlong-3 first stage during a static fire test in June may have impacted the sector.

A Long March 6 series rocket could launch from Taiyuan in the coming days. The debut of the new Long March 12 launcher is expected from a new commercial pad later in September.

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