- Communications satellite
- SJ-20
- NORAD 44910
- 2019-097A
- Inclined geosynchronous
Current orbit
View on live mapOrbit began over Kenya
Orbit ends over Kenya
In view from you
Nobody watches Shi Jian 20 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 Shi Jian 20, 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 reaches you from it reaches a dish or an antenna, not an eye.
Timeline
- Launch
Launched, on the day GCAT records. Source
- Rendezvous
Shi Jian 17 came up beside Shi Jian 20, Jan 29, 2020 to Apr 6, 2020, as public sources state. Its sources
- Rendezvous
USA 271 came up beside Shi Jian 20, from August 2020, as public sources state. Its sources
Summary
Over Tanzania LIVE
Where is Shi Jian 20?
At 5:33:35 PM UTC Shi Jian 20 was over Tanzania (5.2° S, 36° E), 35,862 km up, moving at 3.07 km/s and in sunlight.
What is Shi Jian 20?
A communications satellite in an inclined geosynchronous orbit, in space since Dec 27, 2019.
Can I see Shi Jian 20?
No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for Shi Jian 20, and nothing here estimates one; the dishes and receivers on the ground use its signals instead.
General
- Operator
- China Satellite Communications Corp. Group (China Satcom)
- State
- China, People's Republic of
- Built by
- Chinese Academy of Space Technology, Beijing (CASC 5th Acad)
- What it is
- Communications satellite
- Launched
- Mass
- about 7.6 t
- Operating
- Yes
- Orbit class
- Inclined geosynchronous
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
- 5:33 PM UTC
- Station time (UTC)
- 5:33 PM UTC
- Latitude / longitude
- 5.2° S, 36° E
- Altitude
- 35,862 km
- Speed
- 3.07 km/s (11,059 km/h)
- Course
- north
- Light
- In sunlight
- Inclination
- 5.3°
- Orbital period
- 1,439.9 minutes
- Orbits per day
- 1
- This orbit
- 35,860 to 35,864 km
- In shadow
- None of this orbit
- In view from
- Within 7,950 km of the point below it
- Elements epoch
- Nov 8, 2026, 12:52 AM, 16 hours old
- Source
- Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 12:52 AM, 16 hours old.
No operator publishes an ephemeris for Shi Jian 20, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.
In orbit
- Close approaches
- No close approach to Shi Jian 20 has been reported publicly in the past thirty days.
From Space-Track’s public conjunction messages; the latest report was issued Nov 8, 2026, 1:11 PM, 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shi Jian 20 | 35,860 to 35,864 km | 1,440 minutes | about 7.6 t | 2019 |
| Hispasat 30W-6 | 35,786 to 35,786 km | 1,436 minutes | about 6.1 t | 2018 |
| Amazonas Nexus | 35,786 to 35,786 km | 1,436 minutes | about 4.1 t | 2023 |
| ARSAT-1 | 35,786 to 35,786 km | 1,436 minutes | about 3 t | 2014 |
| Astra 1N | 35,786 to 35,786 km | 1,436 minutes | about 5.3 t | 2011 |
| Hotbird 13F | 35,786 to 35,786 km | 1,436 minutes | about 4.5 t | 2022 |
Data and API
The current elements from Space-Track as an OMM object, epoch Nov 8, 2026, 12:52 AM, 16 hours old.
{
"OBJECT_NAME": "SJ-20",
"OBJECT_ID": "2019-097A",
"EPOCH": "2026-11-08T00:52:18.156864",
"MEAN_MOTION": 1.00006316,
"ECCENTRICITY": 0.0000409,
"INCLINATION": 5.2782,
"RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 73.2265,
"ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 152.6381,
"MEAN_ANOMALY": 231.1467,
"EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
"CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
"NORAD_CAT_ID": 44910,
"ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
"REV_AT_EPOCH": 2514,
"BSTAR": 0,
"MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 0.00000153,
"MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}