Gaofen-5 (GF-5)

Gaofen-5 (GF-5) is a Chinese atmospheric chemistry and hyperspectral land-observation satellite operated by the China National Space Administration, launched on 2018-05-08 into a sun-synchronous orbit at approximately 705 to 708 km altitude with a 13:30 local equator-crossing time.^[1][2] The mission carries six instruments: the Advanced Hyperspectral Imager (AHSI), Visible and Infrared Multispectral Sensor (VIMS), Environmental Trace Gases Monitoring Instrument (EMI), Greenhouse Gases Monitoring Instrument (GMI), Atmospheric Infrared Ultraspectral Sounder (AIUS), and Directional Polarization Camera (DPC).^[1][2][3] Together these payloads enable hyperspectral land surface classification and mineral mapping, thermal emission retrieval,^[4] tropospheric column NO2 and SO2 measurement, SWIR-band greenhouse gas screening, atmospheric limb-nadir sounding, and multi-angle polarimetric aerosol characterisation.^{[3][5][6][7][8]} GF-5 is treated as ended with medium confidence based on available records: the WMO OSCAR satellite record lists the mission as inactive and shows activity from 2018 to 2020, while the CEOS EO Handbook page described it as operational with an end-of-life date of May 2026.^[1][2] The exact end-of-life date and post-2020 payload operability are not detailed in available public records as of 2026-06-14.