Yaogan Weixing 17 (JB-8 3A)

Spacecraft nº:

Chinese spacecraft nº: 209

Launch data:

Spacecraft data:

Mission details:

• China launched a triplet of satellites on Sep 1, 2013 into a 1083 x 1116 km x 63.4 deg orbit. The satellites are believed to operate like the old US PARCAE/NOSS system, in which a group of loosely formation-flying spacecraft locate radio emitters using the difference in time of arrival of the radio signals at the different satellites.
• The satellites are called `yaogan weixing shiqi hao' (Resource Satellite No. 17).
• YAOGAN 17A will reportedly conduct scientific experiments, carry out land surveys, monitor crop yields and aid in preventing natural disasters. But analysts believe the launch's passengers were three intelligence-gathering satellites. Yaogan 17's altitude and inclination match the orbits of two other Chinese launches in 2010 and 2012. Each of those launches deployed three satellites in orbit, and U.S. military tracking data indicate Sunday's launch also released multiple spacecraft after arriving in space.

Satellite tracking: