2025 for January 1970

China’s spy ship Yuan Wang 5 has returned to the maritime neighbourhood of India, three years after it had docked at Hambantota Port of Sri Lanka.

Launched in 2007, Yuan Wang 5 is part of a series of specialized tracking ships built by China for strategic space and missile monitoring.
It is operated by China’s People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force.
It can provide near-real-time situational awareness to the PLA Rocket Force and Navy.
It also plays a role in validating the performance of China’s new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons, providing telemetry data critical for weapons development and operational readiness.

It displaces about 25,000 tons, has a length of over 222 metres, a beam of over 25 metres, and can accommodate 400 people.
The ship is driven by diesel engines and can generate sufficient electricity to light up a small town of over 300,000 inhabitants.
With endurance measured in weeks, the ship can remain on station during key test windows or naval exercises.
Its suite of high-power phased-array radar systems is capable of detecting ballistic missile launches at distances exceeding 3,000 kilometers.
These radars track the trajectory of missiles through various flight stages, from boost to reentry, while simultaneously collecting telemetry signals that reveal propulsion performance, warhead separation, and guidance accuracy.
In addition to ballistic missile monitoring, Yuan Wang 5 is equipped with satellite-tracking antennas that can lock onto spacecraft in low-earth orbit, geostationary orbit, and deep-space trajectories.
These antennas are estimated to operate in multiple frequency bands, giving the ship flexibility to track both civilian and military launches.
The vessel’s electronic support measures (ESM) suite further enables it to intercept radar emissions and communications from foreign warships and aircraft operating in the vicinity.

Source: DH

Yuan Wang 5 FAQs

Q1: What is Yuan Wang 5?

Ans: A missile-tracking and satellite-tracking ship.

Q2: Which country developed Yuan Wang 5?

Ans: China

Q3: Yuan Wang 5’s radar can detect missile launches at what approximate maximum distance?

Ans: It is capable of detecting ballistic missile launches at distances exceeding 3,000 kilometers.