TJS 4 (main reflector not deployed) [CCTV]
TJS 1 (Tongxin Jishu Shiyan) is a Chinese geostationary satellite billed as a communications technology test satellite, but which is likely a military SIGINT mission.
The satellite is repordedly mainly used to conduct a test on Ka-band in broadband communication. Also it has been reported, that it features a large unfulable dish antenna of ~32 m diameter. It has been positioned at 154.5ー East.
The lack of public information has lead to the suspiction, that this satellite has a military mission. It has been speculated, that the satellite might be in fact a military Qianshao-3 SIGINT satellite.
TJS 1 was launched in September 2015 on a CZ-3B/G2 rocket.
A second sarellite of this type, TJS 4 (Tongxin Jishu Shiyan), was launched in October 2019 into a geostationary transfer orbit.
Reportedly the satellite was built by CAST and is a technological demonstration of multi-band, high speed communication techniques. The launch animation showed a satellite featuring a deployable mesh antenna and a number of smaller antennas, hinting to a SIGINT mission.
| Nation: | China |
|---|---|
| Type / Application: | SIGINT ? |
| Operator: | |
| Contractors: | CAST |
| Equipment: | |
| Configuration: | |
| Propulsion: | |
| Power: | 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries |
| Lifetime: | |
| Mass: | |
| Orbit: | GEO |
| Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TJS 1 (Qianshao-3 1 ?) | 2015-046A | 12.09.2015 | Xi LC-2 | CZ-3B/G2 | |
| TJS 4 (Qianshao-3 2 ?) | 2019-070A | 17.10.2019 | Xi LC-3 | CZ-3B/G3 | |
| TJS 9 (Qianshao-3 3 ?) | 2021-135A | 29.12.2021 | Xi LC-2 | CZ-3B/G3 | |
| TJS 12 (Qianshao-3 4 ?) ? | 2024-246A | 20.12.2024 | Xi | CZ-3B/G2 |