Such data are provided by the military analytical monitoring center Heavens Above, which monitors the movement of satellites.
In particular, a flight of satellites from the Yaogan 33 series was detected over Lviv 33: Yaogan 33, Yaogan 33-03 and Yaogan 33-04, which have flown a total of 9 times over the region from 00:00 to about 11:30 in the morning.
In total, over 60 different types of Yaogan satellites can operate over Ukraine, capable of performing optical, radar and radio -electronic intelligence. They fly to an altitude of about 700 km, performing a full turn around the ground approximately every 90 minutes.
Despite China’s official statement that these satellites are used for “research” and “natural disasters”, experts believe that Yaogan is military apparatus with radar SAR (synthesized aperture), similar to Iceye systems.
Yaogan 33 satellites were fired in 2022-2023, replacing the older first-generation Yaogan-1 (2006) models.
The first devices in the series have a SAR L-diapaper with a resolution of up to 5 meters in high accuracy mode. Given technical progress over the last 15 years, experts suggest that Yaogan 33 have significantly better characteristics close to modern Western intelligence satellites.
It is not yet known whether Chinese satellites have carried out actual intelligence during the attack on Ukraine, but the very fact of their synchronous flying causes anxiety among analysts.
