YAOGAN-30 A

YAOGAN-30 A is an active satellite operated by Chinese Ministry of National Defense (China), launched on 2017-09-29 from Xichang, China. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 556 km and 559 km with an inclination of 35.0°. It travels at approximately 27,306 km/h (7.58 km/s), completing one full orbit every 96 minutes — that’s roughly 15.03 orbits per day. Its near-circular orbit (eccentricity close to zero) means it maintains a very consistent altitude throughout each revolution. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~3–10 years. Orbital Radar tracks YAOGAN-30 A in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

YAOGAN-30 A orbits at an average altitude of 558 km in the core of Low Earth Orbit, the most heavily utilised altitude band. The balance of moderate drag (limiting debris accumulation) and short signal path (enabling low-latency links and high-resolution imaging) makes this regime the default for most commercial and government missions. Within ±50 km of YAOGAN-30 A’s average altitude, there are currently 3,296 active payloads and 406 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1184, STARLINK-1276, ONEWEB-0050. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 18.9% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 35.0°, YAOGAN-30 A passes over latitudes between 35.0°N and 35.0°S, covering the tropical and temperate zones where most of the world’s population resides. Low-to-mid inclination orbits are efficient to reach from equatorial and mid-latitude launch sites. China operates approximately 1,219 active satellites in total, of which 154 share a similar altitude band with YAOGAN-30 A.