# Gaofen-6 (GF-6)
*missions*

## Specifications
- **operator**: cnsa
- **actual launch**: 2018-06-02
- **current status**: operational
- **orbit type**: Sun-synchronous orbit, about 640-645 km altitude, 10:30 local imaging time
- **revisit days**: 41
- **paired revisit days**: 4
- **swath km**: 800
- **tasking supported**: false
- **archive depth years**: 8
- **current geographic priority**: High-resolution land observation, disaster monitoring, agriculture, forestry, and environmental monitoring.
- **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":"2018-06-02","current_status":"operational","orbit_type":"Sun-synchronous orbit, about 640-645 km altitude, 10:30 local imaging time","revisit_days":41,"paired_revisit_days":4,"swath_km":800,"tasking_supported":false,"archive_depth_years":8,"current_geographic_priority":"High-resolution land observation, disaster monitoring, agriculture, forestry, and environmental monitoring.","launch_vehicle":"casc-long-march-2d"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
Gaofen-6 (GF-6) is a Chinese high-resolution optical land-observation satellite operated by the China National Space Administration, launched on 2018-06-02 into a sun-synchronous orbit at approximately 640 to 645 km altitude with a 10:30 local imaging time.[^wmo-gf6][^usgs-gf6-system-characterization] The mission carries two optical instruments: the Panchromatic Multispectral Sensor (PMS), providing sub-metre to 2 m panchromatic and multispectral resolution over a narrow swath, and the Wide Field View camera (WFV), covering an 800 km swath for wide-area monitoring.[^wmo-pms][^wmo-wfv] GF-6 operates with a 41-day repeat cycle and a 4-day revisit through dual-satellite coordination with Gaofen-1.[^wmo-gf6][^usgs-gf6-system-characterization] Applications include vegetation index mapping for agriculture and forestry, land cover change detection, crop-type and crop-stress monitoring, and disaster damage assessment.[^cast-gf-series][^wmo-gf6] The WMO OSCAR record lists a satellite mass of 805 kg at 640 km altitude, while the USGS system characterisation report gives a launch mass of 1080 kg at 645 km;[^wmo-gf6][^usgs-gf6-system-characterization] mass is not stored in the mission record and the altitude range in the row reflects both sources.

## Compositional position
- Gaofen-6 (GF-6) --[mission_payloads]--> pms (products)
- Gaofen-6 (GF-6) --[mission_payloads]--> wfv (products)
- Gaofen-6 (GF-6) --[related-topic]--> land-cover-change (topics)
- Gaofen-6 (GF-6) --[related-topic]--> crop-type (topics)
- Gaofen-6 (GF-6) --[related-topic]--> crop-stress (topics)
- Gaofen-6 (GF-6) --[related-topic]--> forest-structure (topics)
- Gaofen-6 (GF-6) --[related-topic]--> disaster-damage-assessment (topics)

## Sources
- [wmo-gf6] | WMO OSCAR satellite record: GF-6 | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/gf_6 | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [usgs-gf6-system-characterization] | USGS system characterization report on Gaofen-6 | https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1030/m/ofr20211030m.pdf | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14 | published=2021-01-01
- [cast-gf-series] | CAST GF series satellite overview | https://www.cast.cn/english/channel/1993 | tier=operator-engineering | accessed=2026-06-14
- [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-6
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)