What is "yaogan"

Yaogan (in full Yaogan Weixing , "Remote Sensing Satellite"; sometimes written YaoGan) refers to a series of Chinese reconnaissance satellites launched in the early 21st century.

Chinese media describe the satellites as intended for " scientific experiments, land survey, crop yield assessment, and disaster monitoring". Western analysts suspect that they are also used for military purposes. Analysts believe that each satellite employs either optical or synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors and that the SAR satellites are of the Jian Bing-5 series.

The SAR satellite was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Space Flight Technology(SAST). The electro-optical digital imaging satellite was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). It is carried into space atop a Chang Zheng (Long March) rocket.

Yaogan satellites have been launched from both the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China's northern Shanxi province and the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's northwestern Gansu province.