The Chinese satellites with the Shi Jian (SJ) and Shi Yan designators are just two categories of Chinese space vehicles on which Beijing has not elaborated in recent years. This paper reviews their history up to 2013 to provide space watchers with an initial framework for analyzing these satellites’ on-orbit behavior. It is too early to determine if the framework can also accurately describe more recently launched SJ and Shi Yan satellites. This is an initial review to support follow-on studies of these and China’s other technology satellites.
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