YAOGAN-36 05A

MilitaryLEOChina

YAOGAN-36 05A 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 503 km altitude. It completes one orbit of Earth roughly every 95 minutes at an inclination of 35.0°. It was launched in 2023. Track its live position and see when it passes over your location on azmth.

Orbital data

NORAD ID: 57452
COSPAR ID: 2023-106A
Type: Military
Orbit: LEO
Perigee (lowest): 503 km
Apogee (highest): 504 km
Inclination: 35.01°
Orbital period: 95 min
Launch year: 2023
Owner (CelesTrak): China

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

Who operates it

ChinaLIVEActive

Signals intelligence

GCAT lists it as Yaogan 36 05 zu 01 xing.

Official description

“... successfully launched the Yaogan-36 satellites, which entered their planned orbit; the launch was a complete success.”

Xinhua, 27 Jul 2023

azmth's translation · Show original

……成功将遥感三十六号卫星发射升空，卫星顺利进入预定轨道，发射任务获得圆满成功。

It names no purpose.

Independent assessment

GCAT classes it as a military satellite for signals intelligence 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.

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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.