| 遥感卫星 Yáogǎn Wèixīng | |
 VRSS-1 satellite based on the Jianbing-6 class of Yaogan satellites | |
| Program overview | |
|---|---|
| Country |  People's Republic of China |
| Organization | SAST CAST |
| Purpose | Reconnaissance |
| Status | Active |
| Program history | |
| First flight | 26 April 2006 |
| Successes | 149 |
| Failures | 1 |
| Launch site(s) | |
| Vehicle information | |
| Launch vehicle(s) | |
Yaogan (simplified Chinese: 遥感卫星; traditional Chinese: 遙感衞星; pinyin: Yáogǎn Wèixīng; lit. 'Remote Sensing Satellite') is the cover name used by the People's Republic of China to refer to its military reconnaissance satellites.[1][2] Yaogan satellites are largely known to primarily support the People's Liberation Army's Strategic Support Force (PLASSF), formerly the Aerospace Reconnaissance Bureau of the Second Department of the General Staff.[3][4][5] The Yaogan program is the successor to the Fanhui Shi Weixing (FSW) recoverable reconnaissance satellite program but, unlike its predecessor, includes a variety of classes utilizing various means of remote sensing such as optical reconnaissance, synthetic-aperture radar (SAR), and electronic intelligence (ELINT) for maritime surveillance. Yaogan satellites have been launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC) in Shanxi province, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) in Inner Mongolia, Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC) in Sichuan province and the Wenchang Space Launch Site (WSLS) in Hainan province.[6]
Although individual Yaogan satellites are often referred to by their number (e.g. Yaogan-18), Chinese military reconnaissance satellites are typically categorized by their military Jianbing designation. Jianbing (尖兵) translates to "point soldier", "vanguard", or "pioneer" and entered use in satellite designations with China's first series of reconnaissance satellites, FSW-0, as the Jianbing-1 series. The first Yaogan satellite, Yaogan 1, is one of three Jianbing-5 (JB-5) series satellites following the final FSW-3 satellites of the Jianbing-4 (JB-4) series. Because Jianbing designations are secret and only Yaogan numbers are officially used, the Jianbing designations for later classes still remains unknown to the public.
- ^ Clark, Stephen (29 January 2021). "China launches military spy satellite trio into orbit". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022.
- ^ Jonathan McDowell [@planet4589] (7 April 2021). "The Jianbing-7 03 radar satellite, cover name Yaogan 18, reentered at 0035 UTC Apr 7 over the South Atlantic. It was launched in Oct 2013, operated until Feb 2019, and had its orbit lowered from Apr-Jul 2020; it underwent uncontrolled decay since 2020 Jul 7" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 3 July 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ Costello, John; McReynolds, Joe (October 2018). "China's Strategic Support Force: A Force for a New Era" (PDF). China Strategic Perspectives. 13: 20. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 June 2022 – via National Defense University.
- ^ Barbosa, Rui C. (22 April 2009). "Chinese launch again with YaoGan Weixing-6 remote sensing satellite". nasaspaceflight.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
- ^ "2006年4月27日 "遥感卫星一号"成功发射". www.xinhuanet.com. Xinhuanet. 27 April 2006. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ "China Launches Yaogan-4 Satellite". Asian Surveying and Mapping magazine. 2 December 2008. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2009.