YAOGAN-37

MilitaryLEOChina

YAOGAN-37 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 522 km altitude. It completes one orbit of Earth roughly every 95 minutes at an inclination of 43.2°. It was launched in 2023. Track its live position and see when it passes over your location on azmth.

Orbital data

NORAD ID: 55244
COSPAR ID: 2023-006C
Type: Military
Orbit: LEO
Perigee (lowest): 522 km
Apogee (highest): 536 km
Inclination: 43.20°
Orbital period: 95 min
Launch year: 2023
Owner (CelesTrak): China

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

Who operates it

ChinaLIVEActive

Optical imaging (unconfirmed)

GCAT lists it as Yaogan 37 01 xing.

Official description

“The 3 satellites of this launch are mainly used for in-orbit verification tests of new technologies such as space environment monitoring.”

Xinhua, 13 Jan 2023

azmth's translation · Show original

这次发射的3颗卫星主要用于空间环境监测等新技术在轨验证试验。

Independent assessment

GCAT classes it as a military satellite for optical imaging (unconfirmed) 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.