- Earth-watching satellite
- JILIN-01 GAOFEN 2F
- NORAD 49338
- 2021-097A
- Low Earth orbit
Current orbit
View on live mapOrbit began over the Arctic Ocean
Orbit ends over the Greenland Sea
In the Earth’s shadow since
Back in sunlight
In view from you
Nobody watches Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F 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 Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F, 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 Timor Sea LIVE
Where is Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F?
At 5:36:09 PM UTC Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F was over the Timor Sea (9.5° S, 128.2° E), 548 km up, moving at 7.59 km/s and in the Earth’s shadow.
What is Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F?
A satellite that watches the Earth in low Earth orbit, in space since Oct 27, 2021.
Can I see Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F?
No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F, and nothing here estimates one; what people use is its pictures and measurements of the Earth.
General
- Operator
- Chang Guang Satellite Technology Ltd
- State
- China, People's Republic of
- Built by
- Chang Guang Satellite Technology Ltd
- What it is
- Earth-watching satellite
- Launched
- Mass
- 230 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
- 5:36 PM UTC
- Station time (UTC)
- 5:36 PM UTC
- Latitude / longitude
- 9.5° S, 128.2° E
- Altitude
- 548 km
- Speed
- 7.59 km/s (27,306 km/h)
- Course
- north
- Light
- In the Earth’s shadow until 6:02 PM UTC
- Inclination
- 97.7°
- Orbital period
- 95.4 minutes
- Orbits per day
- 15.09
- This orbit
- 524 to 551 km
- In shadow
- 34 minutes of each orbit
- In view from
- Within 1,660 km of the point below it
- Elements epoch
- Nov 8, 2026, 6:30 AM, 11 hours old
- Source
- Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 6:30 AM, 11 hours old.
No operator publishes an ephemeris for Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.
In orbit
- Close approaches
- No close approach to Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jilin-1 Gaofen 02F | 524 to 551 km | 95 minutes | 230 kg | 2021 |
| 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, 6:30 AM, 11 hours old.
{
"OBJECT_NAME": "JILIN-01 GAOFEN 2F",
"OBJECT_ID": "2021-097A",
"EPOCH": "2026-11-08T06:30:07.401600",
"MEAN_MOTION": 15.08651156,
"ECCENTRICITY": 0.00198268,
"INCLINATION": 97.6882,
"RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 78.3636,
"ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 95.8599,
"MEAN_ANOMALY": 264.489,
"EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
"CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
"NORAD_CAT_ID": 49338,
"ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
"REV_AT_EPOCH": 27803,
"BSTAR": 0.00036841301,
"MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 0.00005731,
"MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}