YAOGAN-27

MilitaryLEOSSORetrogradeChina

YAOGAN-27 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 1,201 km altitude. It completes one orbit of Earth roughly every 109 minutes at an inclination of 100.1°. It was launched in 2015. Track its live position and see when it passes over your location on azmth.

Orbital data

NORAD ID: 40878
COSPAR ID: 2015-040A
Type: Military
Orbit: LEO
Perigee (lowest): 1,201 km
Apogee (highest): 1,213 km
Inclination: 100.13°
Orbital period: 109 min
Launch year: 2015
Owner (CelesTrak): China

Orbital data updated: 2026-10-18 · from CelesTrak, refreshed every 2 hours.

Who operates it

ChinaLIVEActive

Optical imaging

GCAT lists it as Yaogan Weixing 27.

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.