TIANHUI 4A

TIANHUI 4A is an active satellite operated by China, launched on 2021-12-29 from Jiuquan, China. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 420 km and 434 km with an inclination of 89.0°. It travels at approximately 27,566 km/h (7.66 km/s), completing one full orbit every 93 minutes — that’s roughly 15.47 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~1–3 years. Orbital Radar tracks TIANHUI 4A in real time using the latest two-line element set (TLE) data, providing live position, altitude, speed and orbital path updated continuously.

TIANHUI 4A orbits at an average altitude of 427 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 TIANHUI 4A’s average altitude, there are currently 4,291 active payloads and 143 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include STARLINK-1008, STARLINK-1012, STARLINK-1017. This makes it one of the more crowded altitude bands, containing roughly 24.6% of all active satellites. With an inclination of 89.0°, TIANHUI 4A passes over latitudes between 89.0°N and 89.0°S, providing near-global coverage including the polar regions. Polar and near-polar orbits are used for reconnaissance, weather monitoring and Earth-observation missions that need to image every part of the planet. China operates approximately 1,218 active satellites in total, of which 70 share a similar altitude band with TIANHUI 4A.