# Gaofen-1 (GF-1)
*missions*

## Specifications
- **operator**: cnsa
- **actual launch**: 2013-04-26
- **current status**: extended
- **orbit type**: Sun-synchronous orbit, 640-644 km altitude, 10:30 descending equator crossing
- **revisit days**: 41
- **paired revisit days**: 4
- **tasking supported**: false
- **current geographic priority**: Earth resources, environmental monitoring, land-surface observation, precision agriculture, and disaster prevention.
- **launch vehicle**: casc-long-march-2d
- **entity type**: mission
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-14
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: cnsa
- **attributes**: {"operator":"cnsa","actual_launch":"2013-04-26","current_status":"extended","orbit_type":"Sun-synchronous orbit, 640-644 km altitude, 10:30 descending equator crossing","revisit_days":41,"paired_revisit_days":4,"tasking_supported":false,"current_geographic_priority":"Earth resources, environmental monitoring, land-surface observation, precision agriculture, and disaster prevention.","launch_vehicle":"casc-long-march-2d"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
Gaofen-1 (GF-1) is the first flight unit of China's Gao Fen high-resolution Earth observation programme, operated by CNSA. The satellite launched 26 April 2013 into a sun-synchronous orbit at approximately 640-644 km altitude with a 10:30 descending equator crossing.[^ceos-gf1][^wmo-gf1]

The satellite carries two imaging payload types. The Panchromatic and Multispectral Sensor (PMS) delivers 2 m panchromatic and 8 m multispectral resolution imagery with a 60 km swath, supporting detailed land observation for crop monitoring, land cover mapping, and disaster damage assessment.[^wmo-pms] The Wide Field of View camera (WFV) provides 16 m multispectral resolution across a combined 800 km swath from four cameras, enabling wide-area vegetation monitoring and timeseries change detection.[^wmo-wfv] A four-satellite formation with GF-1B/C/D reduces revisit from 41 days to approximately 4 days combined.[^ceos-gf1][^wmo-gf1]

CEOS EO Handbook records GF-1 as operational with an extended status through to at least December 2025.[^ceos-gf1] WMO OSCAR records an earlier expected end-of-life;[^wmo-gf1] current operational status after that date has not been formally confirmed from authoritative agency sources.

## Compositional position
- Gaofen-1 (GF-1) --[mission_payloads]--> pms (products)
- Gaofen-1 (GF-1) --[mission_payloads]--> wfv (products)
- Gaofen-1 (GF-1) --[related-topic]--> land-cover-change (topics)
- Gaofen-1 (GF-1) --[related-topic]--> crop-type (topics)
- Gaofen-1 (GF-1) --[related-topic]--> crop-stress (topics)
- Gaofen-1 (GF-1) --[related-topic]--> disaster-damage-assessment (topics)

## Sources
- [ceos-gf1] | CEOS MIM mission summary: GF-1 | https://database.eohandbook.com/database/missionsummary.aspx?missionID=773 | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [wmo-gf1] | WMO OSCAR satellite record: GF-1 | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/gf_1 | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [usgs-gf1-system-characterization] | USGS system characterization report on Gaofen-1 | https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20211030B | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14 | published=2021-01-01
- [wmo-pms] | WMO OSCAR instrument record: PMS | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/instruments/view/pms | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [wmo-wfv] | WMO OSCAR instrument record: WFV | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/instruments/view/wfv | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/missions/gaofen-1
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)