Mystery satellite nr 1 revealed

This is a new feature of my Website. I will at irregular intervals post pictures of rare satellites to test your knowledge of the space age! The first mystery satellite is shown below. Several persons tried to guess its identity, only one got it right:

The correct answer is:

The SJ-2B satellite launched on 19 September 1981 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert by an FB-1 rocket. The satellite weighed 283 kg and carried two radio beacons on 40.5 MHz and 162.0 MHz.The SJ-2A satellite was probably carried inside the shell of SJ-2B.

Expert satellite spotter was:

Other suggestions concerning the identity of the satellite:

Back to Space History Notes