YAOGAN-14

MilitaryLEOSSOPolarChina

YAOGAN-14 is a military satellite, as listed in Jonathan McDowell's GCAT catalogue, with ownership listed as China in CelesTrak's catalogue, currently in low Earth orbit, around 481 km altitude. It completes one orbit of Earth roughly every 94 minutes at an inclination of 97.3°. It was launched in 2012. Track its live position and see when it passes over your location on azmth.

Orbital data

NORAD ID: 38257
COSPAR ID: 2012-021A
Type: Military
Orbit: LEO
Perigee (lowest): 481 km
Apogee (highest): 490 km
Inclination: 97.32°
Orbital period: 94 min
Launch year: 2012
Owner (CelesTrak): China

Orbital data updated: 2026-10-19 · from CelesTrak, refreshed every 2 hours.

Who operates it

ChinaLIVEActive

Optical imaging

GCAT lists it as Yaogan Weixing 14.

Independent assessment

GCAT classes it as a military satellite for optical imaging and records it as active (17 Oct 2026).

Data: GCAT · CC BY 4.0 Class, mission and status adapted from GCAT by Jonathan McDowell, CC BY 4.0, data update 17 Oct 2026.

Military satellites, counted and explained →

About LEO orbit

Low Earth Orbit. Up to 2,000 km altitude. Where most satellites live including the ISS (~420 km), Starlink (~550 km), and Earth observation. Orbital period roughly 90 minutes.