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HY-2

Jump to: Mission Objectives, Mission Instrumentation, Mission Parameters, Additional Information

Mission Photos:

HY-2
Courtesy of AVISO

Mission Objectives:

The HY-2 satellite is an oceanographic remote sensing satellite series developed by China's National Satellite Ocean Application Service (NSOAS); four satellites are planned: HY-2A (2011), HY-2B (2018), HY-2C (TBD), HY-2D (TBD). The objective of HY-2 is to monitor the dynamic ocean environment with radar sensors to measure sea surface wind field, sea surface height and sea surface temperature. It will include a dual-frequency radar altimeter in Ku and C-bands, a Ku-band rotating scatterometer and microwave imager. The orbit is sun-synchronous: the first 2 years with a 14-day cycle, then one year with geodetic orbit (168-day cycle, 5-day approx. subcycle).

Mission Instrumentation:

HY-2A will have the following instrumentation onboard:

  • Micro-Wave Radiometer
  • DORIS
  • Retroreflector Array
  • Ku-band Rotating Pencil-beam Scatterometer
  • Ku- and C-band Pulsed-Limited Nadir Radar Altimeter
  • GPS
Mission Parameters:
HY-2A HY-2B HY-2C HY-2D
Sponsor: NSOAS NSOAS NSOAS NSOAS
Expected Life: 3 years 3 years 5 years 3 years
Primary Applications: Oceanography Oceanography Oceanography Oceanography
COSPAR ID: 1104301 1808101 2006601 2104301
SIC Code: 2201 2208 2209 2211
Satellite Catalog (NORAD) Number: 37781 43655 46469 48621
Launch Date: 16-Aug-2011 25-Oct-2018 21-Sep-2020 30-May-2021
RRA Size:        
RRA Shape: hemisphere hemisphere hemisphere hemisphere
Reflectors: 9 corner cubes 9 corner cubes 9 corner cubes 9 corner cubes
Size of Reflector: 16.5 mm 16.5 mm 33 mm diameter
26.2 mm height
16.5 mm
Orbit: circular circular circular circular
Inclination: 99.35 degrees 99.35 degrees 66 degrees 66 degrees
Altitude: 971 km 971 km 957 km 971 km
Eccentricity: 0.00117 0.00117 0.000012 0.00117

Additional Information:

Web sites: