Tianyan
天眼卫星
Tiānyǎn Wèixīng
Program overview
CountryPeople's Republic of China
PurposeReconnaissance
StatusActive
Program history
First flight20 December 2019
Successes3
Failures0
Launch site(s)TSLC
Vehicle information
Launch vehicle(s)

Tianyan (Chinese: 天眼; pinyin: Tiānyǎn; lit. 'Sky/Heaven Eye'), often translated into English as SkyEye or Eye in the Sky, is a reconnaissance satellite program of the People's Republic of China.

The name Tianyan (天眼) in Chinese can also refer to CCTV cameras, concept of the third eye ('divine eye' in Chinese Buddhism), clairvoyance, a 2005 cartoon, 2015 British thriller film Eye in the Sky, or the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), a ground-based radio telescope in Guizhou Province nicknamed Tianyan.

Program

To date, the Tianyan satellite program includes satellites from two classes, Yizheng and Xingshidai.

Yizheng 1

Tianyan-1 (天眼一号; Tiānyǎn yī hào), alternatively identified as Yizheng-1 (仪征一号; Yí Zhèng yī hào), is a commercial Chinese electro-optical Earth-imaging reconnaissance satellite launched in 2019.[1] Yizheng 1 reportedly has a spatial resolution of 0.9 meters.[1]

Yizheng-1 was designed and funded by Zhongxing Space Remote Sensing Satellite Technology Service Co. Ltd. (中星空间遥感卫星技术服务有限公司), a private company based in Jiangsu Province's Yizheng Economic Development Zone, where the satellite derives its name.[2] Yizheng-1 is the first satellite designed by the company and is the first of eight planned satellites in the Yizheng constellation according to Guo Haiyu.[2][3] The satellite was launched by the private satellite company MinoSpace, also known as Weina Star Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing MicroStar Technology Co., Ltd, and Beijing Weina Starry Sky Technology Co. Ltd. (北京微纳星空科技有限公司簡稱微纳星空), based in Haidian District, Beijing.[1][4] This launch was the company's fifth.[5]

Yizheng-1 was launched at 11:22 am (CST) on 20 December 2019 aboard a Long March 4B (CZ-4B) rocket from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC) Launch Site 9 into sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) in low-earth orbit (LEO).[1] 16 minutes after the launch (at 11:38), once the rocket had exited the atmosphere and deployed the Yizheng-1, the ground station began to receive telemetry data, and one minute later (at 11:39), the satellite indicated that it had successfully deployed its antenna and solar panels.[2][6] Tianyan-1 was launched in the "One Arrow and Nine Stars" (一箭九星; Yī Jiàn Jiǔ Xīng) mission alongside eight other satellites:[1][4][7]

  • CBERS-4A, a joint Chinese-Brazilian Earth-imaging satellite and the launch's primary payload
  • TianQin-1 technical test satellite (天琴一号技术试验卫星) for gravitational wave detection[8]
  • Yuheng (玉衡号卫星) internet distribution prototype satellite
  • Shuntian (顺天号卫星) internet distribution prototype satellite
  • ETRSS-1, Ethiopia's first satellite from the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute
  • FloripaSat, a Brazilian CubeSat
  • Weilai-1R (未来号-1R卫星) commercial imaging satellite
  • Tianyan-2 (天眼二号), also known as Xingshidai-8 (星时代八号), a low-resolution Earth imagery and 6G test platform

In a ceremony held the day of the launch, Liu Changrong (刘长荣), director of the Yizheng Economic Development Zone, announced that Yizheng-1 was the first sub-meter high-resolution optical remote sensing satellite to be independently developed, designed, manufactured, launched, and operated from Jiangsu Province.[2] A press release published three days following the launch by Yizheng City Natural Resources and Planning Bureau described the satellite as weighing 72 kilograms and bearing a high-resolution imager to support natural resource monitoring, disaster prevention, urban planning, and emergency management; though the satellite likely also supports reconnaissance missions of the Chinese government.[9]

Xingshidai-8

Tianyan-2 (天眼二号; Tiānyǎn èr hào), alternatively known as Xingshidai-8 (星时代八号; Xīng Shídài bā hào; 'Star Age 8'), is a commercial Chinese 6U CubeSat reconnaissance satellite bearing both a low-resolution Earth video-imager launched in 2019 along with Tianyan-1 (Yinzheng-1). The satellite also carried the nickname SciFi World AI Satellite (科幻世界号AI卫星; Kēhuàn shìjiè hào AI wèixīng) as a dedication to the SciFi community.[10][11]

Xingshidai-8 was jointly-developed by Beijing Micro-Nano Star and Chengdu Guoxing Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd.[11]

Xingshidai-8 was launched alongside Yizheng-1 (Tianyan-1) as part of the "One Arrow and Nine Stars" mission at 11:22 am (CST) on 20 December 2019 aboard a Long March 4B (CZ-4B) rocket from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC) Launch Site 9 into sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) in low-earth orbit (LEO).[1][4][7]

List of satellites

Name Other Name Launch Function Orbit Orbital Apsis Inclination Period SCN COSPAR ID Launcher Launch Site Status
Tianyan-1 Yizheng-1 20 December 2019 Earth observation SSO 617.7 km × 636.2 km 97.8° 97.1 min 44881 2019-093C Long March 4B TSLC Site 9 Operational
Tianyan-2 Xingshidai-8 Earth observation SSO 604.3 km × 623.2 km 97.9° 96.8 min 44882 2019-093D Operational
Tianyan-5 Xingshidai-12 6 November 2020 Earth observation,

Experimental communications

 Decayed on 08 August 2023 46837 2020-079L Long March 6 TSLC Site 16 Decayed
Tianyan-? Yizheng-2 To be announced Earth observation Unknown, not yet launched Jielong-1 JSLC Site 95, Pad B Unlaunched
Tianyan-? Yizheng-3 Earth observation Unknown, not yet launched Unlaunched
Table data sourced from Gunter's Space Page, N2YO, and the United States Space Force 18th Space Defense Squadron (18SDS)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Krebs, Gunter Dirk (8 September 2023). "Yizheng 1 (Tianyan 01)". Gunter's Space Page.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Yanqui, Zheng; Yan, Jiang (20 December 2019). "骄傲！天空中多了一颗"仪征星"，"仪征一号"亚米级遥感卫星发射成功" [Hoorah! There is an additional "Yizheng star" in the sky, and the "Yizheng-1" sub-meter remote sensing satellite was successfully launched]. Yangzhou Radio and Television Yangfan Mobile Channel (in Chinese).
  3. ↑ "剧透！ "仪征一号"上天后，仪征还会再发同类卫星吗？" [spoiler! After "Yizheng-1" launches into space, will Yizheng launch another similar satellite?]. 白沙天地 (in Chinese). 22 December 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 McDowell, Jonathan [@planet4589] (21 December 2019). "OK I think have mostly sorted out last night's Chinese CZ-4B (Long March 4B) launch. Here goes" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ↑ "长征四号乙一箭多星发射成功！搭载有民营卫星制造公司微纳星空" [Long March 4B successfully launched multiple satellites with one rocket! Equipped with Micro-Nano Star, a private satellite manufacturing company]. QQ News (in Chinese). 20 December 2019. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ↑ "微分航宇公司太阳翼解锁展开机构顺利完成在轨解锁展开任务" [Microfen Aerospace’s solar wing unlocking and deployment mechanism successfully completed the on-orbit unlocking and deployment mission]. Weifen Hangyu (in Chinese). 20 December 2019. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. 1 2 Brown, Li (31 March 2023). ""天琴一号"上天，我国始建长达51万公里的"太空引力波天文台"" ["Tianqin-1" went into space, and my country began to build a 510,000-kilometer-long "Space Gravitational Wave Observatory"]. 163.com (in Chinese).
  8. ↑ "China launches first satellite for space-based gravitational wave detection". New China TV. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  9. ↑ "仪征一号"顺利升空 开启仪征市自然资源调查监测新篇章" ["Yizheng-1" successfully launched into space and opened a new chapter in the investigation and monitoring of natural resources in Yizheng City]. Yizheng Natural Resources and Planning Bureau (in Chinese). 23 December 2019. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ↑ Krebs, Gunter Dirk (9 August 2023). "Tianyan 02 (Xingshidai 8, Kehuan shijie hao AI weixing)". Gunter's Space Page.
  11. 1 2 "微纳星空与国星宇航联合研制的AI卫星（星时代8），荣登四川科技报" [The AI satellite (Star Age 8) Jointly Developed by Micro-Nano Star and China Star Aerospace was Featured in Schuan Science and Technology News]. Beijing MicroStar Technology Co., Ltd (in Chinese). 14 January 2020.
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