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ZY-1 02E — Live Satellite Tracking (NORAD 50465)
Track ZY-1 02E (NORAD catalog number 50465) live on the WatchSat interactive 3D globe above. Its position is propagated in real time from the latest CelesTrak two-line element set using the SGP4/SDP4 orbital model — the same math professional trackers run. It has been on orbit since 2021, launched on the 131st orbital launch of that year (COSPAR designation 2021-131A). It went up together with 1 other satellite from that launch still in the active catalog. As of this element set it had completed roughly 24,619 revolutions of Earth.
Moving at about 7.47 km/s, ZY-1 02E flies in low Earth orbit at an altitude of roughly 780 × 781 km, completing one revolution every 100.3 minutes — about 14.4 trips around Earth per day. The orbit is essentially circular (eccentricity 0.0001). Its 98.4° retrograde, near-polar inclination is characteristic of a Sun-synchronous orbit — the type Earth-imaging and weather satellites use to revisit each spot at the same local solar time. Its orbital plane crosses the equator northbound at right ascension 325.6°. Earth's equatorial bulge precesses that plane eastward about 0.98° per day, matching the Sun's apparent motion — which is what holds its lighting constant.
Orbital elements
| Orbit regime | low Earth orbit (LEO) |
|---|---|
| Perigee × apogee altitude | ~780 km × 781 km |
| Inclination | 98.44° |
| Orbital period | 100.3 min (14.35 rev/day) |
| Eccentricity | 0.00009 |
| Element set epoch | 2026-09-07 |
| COSPAR designation | 2021-131A |
| NORAD catalog number | 50465 |
This page's orbital elements come from the CelesTrak catalog of 2026-09-08. The live 3D view above fetches its own current CelesTrak data when the page opens, through an edge cache that refreshes roughly every 30 minutes.
About the Other Active Satellites group
ZY-1 02E is one of 4,471 active satellites in WatchSat's general catalog — the broad population of Earth-observation, communications, science, amateur-radio and technology spacecraft outside the giant broadband constellations. Browse all other active satellites live in 3D.
Can you see ZY-1 02E from the ground?
Sometimes. Like most low-Earth-orbit spacecraft, ZY-1 02E is visible only around dawn and dusk, when your sky is dark but the satellite is still sunlit — and whether you can spot it depends on its size and reflectivity. See pass predictions for your location for when it is above your horizon and sunlit.
Related satellites
Nearest catalog neighbors of ZY-1 02E in the Other Active Satellites group — usually craft from the same or adjacent launches:
- XW-3 (CAS-9) (NORAD 50466)
- TIANHUI 4A (NORAD 50572)
- TIANHUI 4B (NORAD 50573)
- TJS-9 (NORAD 50574)
- SHIYAN-12 02 (SY-12 02) (NORAD 50322)
- SHIYAN-12 01 (SY-12 01) (NORAD 50321)
Browse the Other Active Satellites directory or the full satellite directory · What is a TLE? · WatchSat live globe