YAOGAN-50 02

MilitaryLEORetrogradeChina

YAOGAN-50 02 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 959 km altitude. It completes one orbit of Earth roughly every 104 minutes at an inclination of 142.0°. It was launched in 2026. Track its live position and see when it passes over your location on azmth.

Orbital data

NORAD ID: 68196
COSPAR ID: 2026-051A
Type: Military
Orbit: LEO
Perigee (lowest): 959 km
Apogee (highest): 960 km
Inclination: 141.99°
Orbital period: 104 min
Launch year: 2026
Owner (CelesTrak): China

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

Who operates it

ChinaLIVEActive

Radar imaging

GCAT lists it as Yaogan 50 hao 02 xing.

Official description

“The satellite is mainly used for land survey, crop yield estimation, disaster prevention and mitigation and similar fields.”

China National Space Administration, 16 Mar 2026

azmth's translation · Show original

该卫星主要用于国土普查、农作物估产和防灾减灾等领域。

Independent assessment

GCAT classes it as a military satellite for radar 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.