Dong Fang Hong 1

LIVE

Link to this page

https://orbinauts.com/satellites/dfh-1

  • Pioneer
  • NORAD 4382
  • 1970-034A
  • Low Earth orbit

Current orbit

Where Dong Fang Hong 1 is on the world map, with the orbit it is flying
View on live map

Orbit began over the Southern Ocean

Orbit ends over the Southern Ocean

Sunlit since

Enters the Earth’s shadow

Past trackNext orbits

In view from you

Nobody watches Dong Fang Hong 1 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.

Even at its closest, Dong Fang Hong 1 is too faint to see with the naked eye from anywhere on Earth, so no city page carries pass times for it.

Seeing it

There is nothing to go outside for: it is too faint for the naked eye. It is still up there all the same, going round as it has since it was launched.

Altitude

0 km500 km1,000 km1,500 km2,000 km
Dong Fang Hong 1, one reading a day from Sep 16, 2026 to Sep 18, 2026. The band runs from the lowest point of the orbit to the highest; the line is the middle of it.

One reading a day, worked out from the elements Space-Track publishes.

Timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched on Long March from Jiuquan. Source

  2. End of mission

    Its mission ended.

Summary

Over the Southern Ocean LIVE

Where is Dong Fang Hong 1?

At 8:06:32 PM UTC Dong Fang Hong 1 was over the Southern Ocean (67.3° S, 179.1° W), 451 km up, moving at 8.03 km/s and in sunlight.

What is Dong Fang Hong 1?

One of the pioneers of spaceflight in low Earth orbit, in space since Apr 24, 1970; its mission ended in 1970.

Can I see Dong Fang Hong 1?

No, not with the naked eye: even at its closest, Dong Fang Hong 1 is too faint to see from anywhere on Earth; what it is now is a relic of the first years in orbit.

General

Launched
Ended
Remembered for
Being China’s first satellite, which played the song “The East Is Red” from orbit in 1970
Operator
The China Academy of Space Technology, which built it; a Chinese Long March 1 rocket launched it
Size
a many-sided ball 1 m across
Mass
173 kg
Typical altitude
423 to 1,988 km
Speed
about 6.54 to 8.04 km/s (23,500 to 28,900 km/h)

Latest orbital data

Position received
8:06 PM UTC
Station time (UTC)
8:06 PM UTC
Latitude / longitude
67.3° S, 179.1° W
Altitude
451 km
Speed
8.03 km/s (28,894 km/h)
Course
east
Light
In sunlight until 9:20 PM UTC
Inclination
68.4°
Orbital period
109.5 minutes
Orbits per day
13.15
This orbit
421 to 1,986 km
In shadow
21 minutes of each orbit
In view from
Within 1,460 km of the point below it
Elements epoch
Sep 18, 2026, 5:56 AM, 14 hours old
Source
Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Sep 18, 2026, 5:56 AM, 14 hours old.

No operator publishes an ephemeris for Dong Fang Hong 1, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.

In orbit

Close approaches
Close approaches to Dong Fang Hong 1 are not available right now. Try again in a few minutes.
Losing to drag
Dong Fang Hong 1 is falling less than a metre a day, read from the last 2 days of samples.

See every close approach reported in orbit.

Data and API

The current elements from Space-Track as an OMM object, epoch Sep 18, 2026, 5:56 AM, 14 hours old.

{
  "OBJECT_NAME": "DFH-1",
  "OBJECT_ID": "1970-034A",
  "EPOCH": "2026-09-18T05:56:41.592768",
  "MEAN_MOTION": 13.14639239,
  "ECCENTRICITY": 0.10320573,
  "INCLINATION": 68.4261,
  "RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 231.875,
  "ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 256.4151,
  "MEAN_ANOMALY": 92.0067,
  "EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
  "CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
  "NORAD_CAT_ID": 4382,
  "ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
  "REV_AT_EPOCH": 65791,
  "BSTAR": 0.000037500087,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 0.00000179,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}