missions

FY-4A

Compiled from public sources on 2026-06-14. Not independently verified by China Meteorological Administration.

Work at China Meteorological Administration? This page is unclaimed. Claim it free to keep it accurate and add your links. What operators can do →

Claim this page

FY-4A (Fengyun-4A) is China's first third-generation geostationary meteorological satellite and the initial flight unit of the FY-4 series, operated by the China Meteorological Administration. The satellite launched in December 2016 and is currently stationed at 123.5 degrees East following a relocation in February 2025, with prior operational positions at 105 degrees East and 86.5 degrees East.^[1]^[2]

The Earth-observation sensor stack includes three instruments. The Advanced Geostationary Radiation Imager (AGRI) is a multi-channel visible and infrared imager supporting atmospheric motion vectors, sea surface temperature, precipitation estimates, and thermal anomaly detection.^[3] The Geostationary Interferometric Infrared Sounder (GIIRS) provides atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles and tropospheric trace-gas column measurements.^[4] The Lightning Mapping Imager (LMI) detects optical transients associated with lightning activity across the full disc.^[5]

Ancillary payloads include the SEP/HEPS space-environment particle monitor and a data collection system (DCS). WMO OSCAR records the mission as operational as of April 2026.

Full specification

All fields

current status	operational
operator	China Meteorological Administration
launch vehicle	casc-long-march-3b
Launched	2016-12-11
orbit type	Geostationary orbit, 123.5 E, 35786 km; relocated after 18 February 2025 for full-disc coverage
revisit days	0.0104
tasking supported	false
current geographic priority	Full-disc geostationary meteorological coverage from 123.5 E, with historical service at 105 E and 86.5 E
Last updated	2026-06-14
claim status	agency-sourced

Where this fits, supply chain

Compositional position

this ——— FY-4A Advanced Geostationary Radiation Imager payload

this ——— Prototype Geostationary Interferometric Infrared Sounder payload

this ——— Lightning Mapping Imager payload

this ——— FY-4A Space Environment Package payload

this ——— FY-4A Data Collection Service payload

this ——— Atmospheric Wind Observation related-topic

this ——— Atmospheric profiling related-topic

this ——— Sea surface temperature related-topic

this ——— Air quality related-topic

this ——— Wildfire related-topic

Atmospheric motion vectors (AMV) → demonstrated FY-4A Advanced Geostationary Radiation Imager

Sea-surface temperature retrieval → demonstrated FY-4A Advanced Geostationary Radiation Imager

Satellite precipitation retrieval → demonstrated FY-4A Advanced Geostationary Radiation Imager

Thermal anomaly detection → demonstrated FY-4A Advanced Geostationary Radiation Imager

Atmospheric limb sounding → demonstrated Prototype Geostationary Interferometric Infrared Sounder

Tropospheric column mapping (NO2/SO2) → demonstrated Prototype Geostationary Interferometric Infrared Sounder

Sources

[1]WMO OSCAR satellite record: FY-4Aagency doc2026-06-14
[2]NSMC FY-4A satellite pageagency doc2026-06-14
[3]NSMC FY-4A instruments pageagency doc2026-06-14
[4]WMO OSCAR instrument record: Advanced Geostationary Radiation Imageragency doc2026-06-14
[5]WMO OSCAR instrument record: GIIRSagency doc2026-06-14
[6]WMO OSCAR instrument record: Lightning Mapping Imageragency doc2026-06-14
[7]WMO OSCAR instrument record: SEP/HEPSagency doc2026-06-14
[8]WMO OSCAR instrument record: Data Collection Service (FY)agency doc2026-06-14

Cite https://eo-atlas.org/missions/fy-4a Markdown twin → Field definitions → Suggest a correction →