- Earth-watching satellite
- CFOSAT
- NORAD 43662
- 2018-083A
- Low Earth orbit
Current orbit
View on live mapOrbit began over Russia
Orbit ends over Russia
In view from you
Nobody watches Zhongfa Haiyang Weixing go over, but a receiver still asks whether it is above the horizon. Say where you are and this card answers.
Your position is rounded to about a kilometre and sent only to the Orbinauts API, to find the pass.
No brightness has been published for Zhongfa Haiyang Weixing, so it is not a naked-eye satellite and no city page carries pass times for it. Nothing here estimates one.
Seeing it
There is nothing to go outside for: it is too faint for the naked eye. What it is up there for reaches the ground as pictures and measurements, not as a light in the sky.
Timeline
- Launch
Launched, on the day GCAT records. Source
Summary
Over the Falkland Islands LIVE
Where is Zhongfa Haiyang Weixing?
At 8:58:02 AM UTC Zhongfa Haiyang Weixing was over the Falkland Islands (51.5° S, 58.7° W), 538 km up, moving at 7.59 km/s and in sunlight.
What is Zhongfa Haiyang Weixing?
A satellite that watches the Earth in low Earth orbit, in space since Oct 29, 2018.
Can I see Zhongfa Haiyang Weixing?
No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for Zhongfa Haiyang Weixing, and nothing here estimates one; what people use is its pictures and measurements of the Earth.
General
- Operator
- Ministry of Natural Resources
- State
- China, People's Republic of
- Built by
- Spaceflight East Is Red Satellite Co
- What it is
- Earth-watching satellite
- Launched
- Mass
- 700 kg
- Operating
- Yes
- Orbit class
- Low Earth orbit
From GCAT, Jonathan McDowell’s general catalogue, licensed CC BY 4.0: the operator, the state, the manufacturer, what it is for, the launch day, the mass, and whether it is operating. The orbit class is read from its current elements.
Latest orbital data
- Position received
- 8:58 AM UTC
- Station time (UTC)
- 8:58 AM UTC
- Latitude / longitude
- 51.5° S, 58.7° W
- Altitude
- 538 km
- Speed
- 7.59 km/s (27,331 km/h)
- Course
- south
- Light
- In sunlight
- Inclination
- 97.4°
- Orbital period
- 95 minutes
- Orbits per day
- 15.16
- This orbit
- 513 to 515 km
- In shadow
- None of this orbit
- In view from
- Within 1,640 km of the point below it
- Elements epoch
- Nov 8, 2026, 10:26 PM, 10 hours old
- Source
- Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 10:26 PM, 10 hours old.
No operator publishes an ephemeris for Zhongfa Haiyang Weixing, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.
In orbit
- Close approaches
- No close approach to Zhongfa Haiyang Weixing has been reported publicly in the past thirty days.
From Space-Track’s public conjunction messages; the latest report was issued Nov 9, 2026, 5:39 AM, 2 hours old. Only approaches serious enough to be reported publicly are listed: within three days and, for two bodies near the Earth, closer than a kilometre with a chance of a collision above 1 in 10,000, the level at which NASA moves the ISS.
Beside the others
| Satellite | Typical altitude | Orbital period | Mass | In space since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zhongfa Haiyang Weixing | 513 to 515 km | 95 minutes | 700 kg | 2018 |
| PAZ | 507 to 510 km | 95 minutes | about 1.4 t | 2018 |
| WorldView-3 | 612 to 615 km | 97 minutes | about 2.8 t | 2014 |
| SAOCOM 1A | 622 to 624 km | 97 minutes | about 3 t | 2018 |
| ALOS-2 | 630 to 632 km | 97 minutes | about 2.1 t | 2014 |
| SMAP | 681 to 683 km | 98 minutes | 944 kg | 2015 |
Data and API
The current elements from Space-Track as an OMM object, epoch Nov 8, 2026, 10:26 PM, 10 hours old.
{
"OBJECT_NAME": "CFOSAT",
"OBJECT_ID": "2018-083A",
"EPOCH": "2026-11-08T22:26:43.737216",
"MEAN_MOTION": 15.16339803,
"ECCENTRICITY": 0.00014996,
"INCLINATION": 97.3646,
"RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 313.2465,
"ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 71.5874,
"MEAN_ANOMALY": 288.5522,
"EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
"CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
"NORAD_CAT_ID": 43662,
"ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
"REV_AT_EPOCH": 44437,
"BSTAR": 0.00022098525,
"MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 0.0000422,
"MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}