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Issue 78

03 Flash Archive · Members Only

China Launches New SAR Imaging Satellite

8 Aug 2023: China launched Long March 2C from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying the Huanjing-2F, a 5-meter-resolution synthetic aperture radar satellite. Per CNAS, Huanjing-2F (HJ-2F) will support “disaster prevention, reduction, relief, and environmental protection.” Launch Video & 1 minute mission…

Author Greg Gillinger Published July 29, 2025

8 Aug 2023: China launched Long March 2C from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying the Huanjing-2F, a 5-meter-resolution synthetic aperture radar satellite. Per CNAS, Huanjing-2F (HJ-2F) will support “disaster prevention, reduction, relief, and environmental protection.” Launch Video & 1 minute mission animation (complete with spacey soundtrack!) There’s also an 11 second video of LM-2C first stage debris in a Chinese village (disco soundtrack). Nothing like hypergolic fuel residue to boost property values!

-HJ 2F is in a 500 km SSO and is co-planar with HJ-2E (which was launched on 12 Oct 2022).

– HJ-2E & 2F (Huan Jing = Environment) satellites are the second generation of small Chinese Earth observation satellites operated by the China Centre for Resources Satellite Data and Application (CRESDA).

– Both are S-Band SAR remote sensing satellites with high mobility, precision control and stability, and long lifespans.

– There are six HJ satellites in the constellation providing all-weather (3 to 100 m meter) imagery.

– HJ-1A (2008); HJ-1B (2008); HJ-2A (2020); HJ-2B (2020); HJ-2E (2022); and HJ-2F (2023).

– HJ-2A & 2B are also co-planar.

Following the 2012 HJ-1C launch, the satellite reportedly suffered from an antenna problem, which caused a lower than planned resolution. As a remedy, the orbit was lowered. The satellite is no longer in the catalog, and observers presume it has re-entered.

– China plans to launch a total of 11 Huanjing satellites, with visible, infrared, and multi-spectral sensors, plus synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Huanjing-2F was the seventh satellite launched.

– Huanjing-2F adds to the country’s growing SAR capabilities, while a series of commercial SAR constellations also appear to be in the works, some involving public-private partnerships.

Huanjing constellation: six satellites

Huanjing-2F mission patch

Long March-2C first-stage debris in a Chinese village

Huanjing-2F launch mission display

Huanjing-2F SAR imaging satellite in orbit