Analysis of Developments in the Space Domain
12 May: China launched a Long March-3C with TJS-19 (King of the South) (63924) from Xichang. According to official sources, the satellite has entered the planned orbit and will be “mainly used to verify multi-band and high-speed satellite communication technology” which is identical to the description provided for TJS-15 (King of the West) (63157), TJS-16 (King of the East) (63397), and TJS-17 (King of the North) (63524). On ~20 May, western observers located TJS-19 in GEO at 141.15°E. Launch Video.
– With its location at 141.15°E TJS-19 is located between TJS-9 (137.2°E) and TJS-12 (146.5°E). TJS-9 is a suspected SIGINT collection satellite while the mission of TJS-12 remains unknown.
-Initial orbit observations detected TJS-19 inclined at 4.0°, far greater than any of the other TJS “Kings.” TJS-15, 16, & 17 are all inclined 0.1°. The only TJS satellite with a greater inclination is TJS-11 (59020) which is now inclined at 4.8°.
– Of the 4 recently launched “Kings,” TJS-15 and TJS-19 appear to be operating alone, while China parked TJS-16 and TJS-17 in (relative) proximity with one another.
– This is only the second TJS launch to use the LM-3C, the only previous use was for TJS-3 back in 2018. The LM-3C has 2 strap-on boosters and can deliver a maximum mass capacity to GTO of 3,800kg, while the LM-3B has 4 strap-on boosters capable of delivering 5,500kg to GTO.
– There was a secondary object also associated with TJS-19. The object appeared after the satellite had circularized its orbit in GEO and per the Joint Commercial Operations Cell “is possibly the apogee kick motor (AKM) which is currently drifting west at a rate of 5.14 W deg/day.”
– Speaking of TJS-15, it appears to have been visited by TJS-3 (43874) on 21 May 2025 at ~0730UTC. Minimum range between the two satellites was just over 100km and lighting conditions were ideal for TJS-3 to observe TJS-15. TJS-3 is a suspected inspection satellite. TJS-3 does not appear to have performed any specific maneuvers for this imaging opportunity. It is currently orbiting 73km above the GEO belt and drifting westward 1° per day.
TJS Summary
– TJS-19 is the 5th TJS launch in 2025, the most ever for a single year (and we’re not even to June yet). In the past 10 years China has launched 17 TJS satellites, half of which were launched in the past 18 months. For some reason China avoided the TJS-8 and TJS-18 designations…
12 May: Space observers located China’s newest data relay satellite, TianLian-2 05 (63662) orbiting in the GEO belt at 20.4°E (over central Africa.) As noted 5 May 2025 Flash, China launched TL-2 05 on a Long March-3B from Xichang. TL-2 05 was located after spending ~10 days in Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit before circularizing it orbit and joining the GEO belt. Chinese media stated, “TL-2 05 will provide data relay and telemetry, tracking and command services for crewed spacecraft and the Tiangong space station. It will also provide similar services for medium and low Earth orbit satellites, and support for launches.” A data relay constellation enables China to task and stream their sensor data to Chinese ground stations for near real time processing and exploitation without the risks/delays associated with using ground-stations in foreign countries.
China has launched their latest two Tianlian satellites (TL-2 04 and 05) into orbits with greater inclination than any of the previous Tianlian satellites. Both TL-2 04 & 05 were launched within the past 2 months with TL-2 04 in a 5.4° inclination and TL-2 05 a 5.5° inclination (see table below for comparison with other active Tianlian satellites). These orbits resemble those used by the US Tactical Data Relay Satellites (TDRS), the latest of which were launched into orbits inclined between 3.0-3.7°. Using higher inclined orbits will provide the satellites with improved coverage over the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
19 Apr – 3 May: Chinese space operators raised the average altitude for all 6 Shiyan 27 (SY-27A-F, 63599-63604) satellites to 1,045.9km. The timing of the maneuvers resulted in the nearly identical spacing between the satellites. According to official sources, the satellites “will be mainly used for space environment exploration and related technology tests”. Unknown how the even distribution of the 6 satellites around the earth will assist with accomplishing this mission.
– China launched the SY-27A-F from Taiyuan on 18 April 2025.
– Beginning on 19 Apr, China space operators began raising the average altitude of all all six satellites 39-41km. After the maneuvers were completed all 6 satellites were at an identical average altitude of 1,045.9km.
– The satellites are now virtually evenly spaced around the earth with an average separation of 7,425km between one another. The maximum deviation between separation distances is only 54km.
– The satellite spacing will remain consistent as long as China continues to keep the satellites orbiting at equal average altitudes.
11 May: China launched a Long March-6A launch with three Yaogan-40 02A-C (63918-20) satellites from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. According to official sources, the satellites entered the preset orbits and “will be used to carry out electromagnetic environment detection and related technical tests”. The satellites launched into the same 86.0° inclination as the YG-40 01A-C triplets (57830-32). This inclination will allow China to monitor the Arctic and Antarctic regions. The two sets of triplets are not co-planar as the YG-40 02 satellites are offset ~72° west of YG-40 01. As of 18 May 25 the YG-40 02 triplets had begun to maneuver to establish their equilateral triangle formation. This formation indicates a likely radio frequency detection and geolocation mission. Launch Video.
-To form the equilateral triangle formation China will likely operate 2 of the satellites at an increased average altitude than the third satellite for a period of time to create the desired RAAN offset. When that has been achieved, China will maneuver the satellites to the same average altitude.
-Comparing with China’s YG-31 Triplets
Editor’s Note: The YG-40 02 maneuvers will play out over the coming weeks, only then will we be able to confirm the techniques China has used to place the satellites into the desired formation. Stay tuned!
