# HY-2C
*missions*

## Specifications
- **operator**: nsoas
- **actual launch**: 2020-09-21
- **current status**: operational
- **orbit type**: Drifting orbit, approximately 1336 km altitude, 66 degree inclination
- **revisit days**: 10
- **tasking supported**: false
- **current geographic priority**: Global ocean-dynamics observations, including sea-surface wind, sea-surface height and sea-surface temperature
- **launch vehicle**: casc-long-march-4b
- **entity type**: mission
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-14
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: nsoas
- **attributes**: {"operator":"nsoas","actual_launch":"2020-09-21","current_status":"operational","orbit_type":"Drifting orbit, approximately 1336 km altitude, 66 degree inclination","revisit_days":10,"tasking_supported":false,"current_geographic_priority":"Global ocean-dynamics observations, including sea-surface wind, sea-surface height and sea-surface temperature","launch_vehicle":"casc-long-march-4b"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
HY-2C (Hai Yang 2C) is the third ocean-dynamics flight unit in China's HY-2 series, operated by NSOAS. It was launched on 2020-09-21 and is operational as of WMO OSCAR's last update (2026-02-02). WMO OSCAR records a current orbit altitude of 1,336 km at 66 degree inclination; AVISO records an average geodetic height of approximately 957 km for the altimetry mission phase.[^wmo-oscar-hy2c][^aviso-hy2c]

HY-2C carries five payloads: a radar altimeter (ALT) for sea-surface height measurement; the HSCAT Ku-band scatterometer for ocean-wind vector retrieval; a calibration microwave radiometer (CMR) for passive microwave sensing and radiometric calibration; a DORIS receiver for precise orbit determination; and a laser retroreflector array (LRA) for satellite laser ranging.[^wmo-oscar-hy2c][^ilrs-hy2c]

HY-2C forms part of a multi-satellite constellation with HY-2B and HY-2D to increase the temporal sampling of ocean-wind and sea-surface-height measurements. EUMETSAT's OSI SAF operationally processes HY-2C HSCAT wind data for near-real-time marine weather services.[^eumetsat-hy2c-winds]

## Compositional position
- HY-2C --[mission_payloads]--> hy-2c-alt (products)
- HY-2C --[mission_payloads]--> hy-2c-cmr (products)
- HY-2C --[mission_payloads]--> hscat-hy-2c (products)
- HY-2C --[mission_payloads]--> doris-hy-2c (products)
- HY-2C --[mission_payloads]--> lra-hy-2c (products)
- HY-2C --[related-topic]--> sea-level (topics)
- HY-2C --[related-topic]--> ocean-surface-winds (topics)
- HY-2C --[related-topic]--> sea-state (topics)
- HY-2C --[related-topic]--> sea-surface-temperature (topics)

## Sources
- [wmo-oscar-hy2c] | WMO OSCAR satellite record: HY-2C | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/hy_2c | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-14
- [aviso-hy2c] | AVISO+ mission page: HY-2C | https://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/en/missions/current-missions/hy-2c.html | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [ilrs-hy2c] | ILRS mission page: HY-2C | https://ilrs.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions/satellite_missions/current_missions/hy2c_general.html | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [eumetsat-hy2c-winds] | HY-2B and HY-2C winds and services from the OSI SAF | https://osi-saf.eumetsat.int/community/stories/hy-2b-and-hy-2c-winds-and-services-osi-saf | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/missions/hy-2c
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)