China launches mystery Yaogan-45 spysat, expands Geesatcom constellation

HELSINKI — China carried out two launches Monday, sending a new reconnaissance satellite into an unexpected orbit and adding 11 spacecraft to automaker Geely’s commercial constellation.

A Long March 7A rocket lifted off at 10:00 pm. Eastern, Sept. 8 (0200 UTC, Sept. 9) from the coastal Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan island. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced launch success, revealing the payload to be the Yaogan-45 satellite.

CASC described the satellite as “mainly used for scientific experiments, land resource surveys, crop yield estimates, and disaster prevention and relief work.”

The Yaogan series is believed to be the designation for China’s military reconnaissance satellites, for optical, synthetic-aperture radar and electronic intelligence gathering. Yaogan-45 was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) under CASC.

CASC also stated that the launch was the first time that the Long March 7A had been used for a “medium-orbit launch mission,” having previously been used for launches to geosynchronous transfer orbit. The state-owned space contractor also added that, by increasing the core-stage tank structure and increasing the number of core-stage engine starts, the Long March 7A’s capacity to a medium Earth orbit has been increased from 7,000 kilograms to over 8,000 kgs, enhancing the rocket’s adaptability.

Yaogan-45 joins Yaogan-41—launched on a Long March 5 rocket in December 2023—in being an apparently larger satellite in the series and set to operate in a higher than usual orbit, with the vast majority of Yaogan series satellites operating in low Earth or sun-synchronous orbits.

Geesatcom constellation expands

Hours before the Yaogan-45 mission, a Jielong-3 (Smart Dragon-3) solid propellant rocket lifted off at 3:48 p.m. Eastern (1948 UTC) Sept. 8 from off the coast of Rizhao City, Shandong province, facilitated by the Eastern maritime spaceport. The event was followed by locals onshore, despite the early morning launch time of 3:48 a.m. Beijing time (Sept. 9). The launch carried 11 satellites for the Geesatcom constellation under automaker Geely.

One of the satellites involves a test navigation as part of plans to develop centimeter-level high-precision positioning for navigation-assisted driving.

The mission was the fifth group of satellites launched for Geesatcom, which now consists of 52 satellites. The Monday mission mirrors a similar Jielong-3 launch in August, which also sent 11 Geesatcom satellites into orbit. The constellation is focused on satellite IoT experiments and inter-satellite communication trials, according to a Geely statement. 

Geespace says it has partners across more than 20 countries, partnering with Azyan Telecom in Oman, ATSS in Saudi Arabia, and Soremar in Morocco, Malaysia’s ALTEL and Argentina’s Orbith. Services will cover “smart cities, intelligent transportation, energy, and marine fisheries to support regional digital economy growth.”

Space-based arm Geespace says the first phase of 64 satellites is to be completed this year, with another Jielong-3 sea launch expected Sept. 21, according to navigation warnings.

Chinese launch activity

The Yaogan-45 and Geespace 05 launches were China’s 53rd and 54th orbital launch attempts of 2025. All have been successful, barring the August failure of a Zhuque-2E launch by commercial launch provider Landspace. The country appears on pace to surpass a national record of 68 launches in a calendar year, set in 2024.

The next launch-related activity in China could be a followup static fire test of a Long March 10 test article at its dedicated pad at Wenchang. Social media posts and photographs suggest a test within the week.