Tianyan (satellite)

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. To date, the Tianyan satellite program has launched one satellite from the Yizheng class (Yizheng-1) and two satellites from the Xingshidai class (Xingshidai-8 and 12).

Tianyan

天眼卫星 Tiānyǎn Wèixīng
Program overview
Country	People's Republic of China
Purpose	Reconnaissance
Status	Active
Program history
First flight	20 December 2019
Successes	3
Failures	0
Launch site(s)	TSLC
Vehicle information
Launch vehicle(s)	Long March 4B Long March 6

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.

Satellites

Tianyan-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]

Tianyan-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] Tianyan-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 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]

Tianyan-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 a sun-synchronous low-earth orbit (LEO).^[1] 16 minutes after the launch (at 11:38), once the rocket had exited the atmosphere and deployed the Tianyan-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 Tianyan-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]

Tianyan-2

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. 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]

Tianyan-2 was jointly-developed by Beijing Micro-Nano Star and Chengdu Guoxing Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd.^[11]

Tianyan-2 was launched in 2019 alongside Tianyan-1 (Yizheng-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 a sun-synchronous low-earth orbit (LEO).^[1][4][7]

Tianyan-5

Tianyan-5 (天眼五号; Tiānyǎn wǔ hào), alternatively known as Xingshidai-12 (星时代十二号; Xīng Shídài shí'èr hào; 'Star Age 12') or as the University of Electronic Science and Technology (ESTC) satellite (电子科技大学号卫星; Diànzǐ Kējì Dàxué hào wèixīng), is an earth-imaging satellite bearing an additional experimental '6G' communications payload. The satellite's imager and communications payload sit upon a MN50 satellite bus built by Weina (Minospace). Tianyan-5 was launched on a Long March 6 rocket from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC) on 6 November 2020 but decayed two years and nine months later on 8 August 2023.

List of satellites

Program Name	Satellite 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	TBD March 2024	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

• Spaceflight portal
• China portal

• Yaogan
• Gaofen
• Shijian

References

1. Krebs, Gunter Dirk (8 September 2023). "Yizheng 1 (Tianyan 01)". Gunter's Space Page.
2. 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. McDowell, Jonathan [@planet4589] (20 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. 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. "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.