SJ 17

SJ 17 [CNTV]

SJ 17 (Shijian 17) is a Chinese experimental geostationary satellite flown on the maiden CZ-5/YZ2 launch.

The SJ 17 satellite, funded solely by CAST, is based on the DFH-4S Bus with a mass of nearly 4000 kg.

SJ 17 satellite is to test new technologies and components. The mission is to:

• test quadruple junction and inverted junction gallium arsenide solar cells
• test "green propellant" ammonium dinitramide (ADN) powered thrusters
• component tests of composite load carrying structures, solid composite lithium-ion batteries, temperature/vibration control systems etc. designed by a team at the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) under the project name "Tianfang-1" for testing future improvements on satellite design
• demonstrate high orbit GNSS-based satellite navigation techniques for the Chinese
• observe orbital debris at high altitudes, possibly with proximity operations

The satellite was directly inserted into geostationary orbit by the YZ-2 upper stage of the launch vehicle.