China launches its first commercial radio-tracking satellites in electronic warfare leap
Por Zhang Tong — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement Science China Science China launches its first commercial radio-tracking satellites in electronic warfare leap
The trio of satellites, named after an all-hearing mythical beast, can track enemy warships, hidden radars and electronic jammers
2 -MIN READ 2 -MIN 1 Listen
Zhang Tong in Beijing Published: 9:30am, 23 Sep 2026 China has just taken a quiet but critical step in space-based electronic warfare . A Lijian-1 Y18 rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northern China at noon on Sunday, carrying nine satellites . Among them were three Diting-01 satellites, which successfully entered their planned orbit.
The trio is named after Diting, a beast from Chinese mythology that crouches beneath the desk of Ksitigarbha, the bodhisattva of the underworld, and can identify all things simply by listening.
The name perfectly captures what these satellites are designed to do. Select Voice Select Speed 0.8x 0.9x 1.0x 1.1x 1.2x 1.5x 1.75x 00:00 00:00 1x AI-generated voice
