YAOGAN-40 01C

MilitaryLEOPolarChina

YAOGAN-40 01C 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 856 km altitude. It completes one orbit of Earth roughly every 102 minutes at an inclination of 86.0°. It was launched in 2023. Track its live position and see when it passes over your location on azmth.

Orbital data

NORAD ID: 57833
COSPAR ID: 2023-139D
Type: Military
Orbit: LEO
Perigee (lowest): 856 km
Apogee (highest): 860 km
Inclination: 86.00°
Orbital period: 102 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 40-01-03.

Official description

“The Yaogan-40 satellites are mainly used to carry out electromagnetic environment detection and related technology tests.”

Xinhua, 10 Sep 2023

azmth's translation · Show original

遥感四十号卫星主要用于开展电磁环境探测及相关技术试验。

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.

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.