Few hours before the launch, the reports indicated that the cargo was another experimental communications system on the TJSW series.

When TJSW-1 was launched in 2015, Japan’s Kyodo News reported that China was building a missile defense system to detect a ballistic missile attack, based on Chinese military documents that referred to the development of an experimental early warning satellite program similar to the American Space-Based Infra-Red Sensor satellites.

TJSW-1 was possibly the first vehicle in the Qianshao-3 SIGINT satellite series developed by the China Academy of Spaceflight Technology (CAST). Four more satellites are already in orbit, and the purpose of the TJSW-4 satellite was stated as “collecting ground wave signals and locating source targets.”

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