Gaofen-3 (GF-3)

Gaofen-3 (GF-3) is a C-band synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite in the Gao Fen programme, operated by the China National Space Administration.^[1] Launched on 9 August 2016 into a sun-synchronous orbit at 758 km altitude with a 06:00 descending equator crossing, GF-3 carries the SAR-C instrument, a C-band SAR with 12 imaging modes spanning resolutions from 1 m to hundreds of metres and a 650 km field of regard.^[2][3] The mission supports all-weather, day-and-night Earth observation for land monitoring, disaster response, ocean surveillance, and environmental applications. Demonstrated uses include SAR backscatter mapping, polarimetric decomposition, and interferometric surface-deformation measurements; the mission is also capable of ocean wind retrieval and ocean wave spectra derivation.^[2][3] The launch date differs by one day between the WMO OSCAR record (2016-08-09)^[1] and the Journal of Radars public summary (2016-08-10),^[3] likely reflecting UTC versus local date handling. As of the WMO OSCAR update on 2026-03-30, GF-3 is listed as operational with an end-of-life date of 2026 or later; no newer CNSA retirement notice was found in this review.