Gaofen 8 (GF 8)

Spacecraft nº:

Chinese spacecraft nº: 246

Launch data:

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• GF 8 is an optical satellite with an high resolution imaging payload. Reportedly, the duties of the satellite are country surveying, disaster response, agriculture mapping, city planning, land ownership marking and road network planning.
• The satellite was put into a 469 km × 481 km, 97.3° orbit, similart to the Yaogan 14 satellite.

Mission details:

• China launched a new high resolution imaging satellite on Jun 26, 2015. The previous two Gaofen satellites, 1 and 2, were civilian operated and extensively described before launch; GF-8 is also described as for civil use but in contrast was not discussed prior to the launch, and may actually be used for military imaging.