Yuan Wang-class

The Yuan Wang-class is a series of tracking and cargo ships operated by the People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force and assigned to the China Maritime Satellite Telemetry and Control Department in Jiangyin, Jiangsu province. Rather than representing a single ship class, the series comprises multiple ship designs developed under the same name. Premier Zhou Enlai first proposed the class in 1965, and Mao Zedong approved the project in 1968. Designed by Xu Xueyan, the first two vessels, Yuan Wang 1 and Yuan Wang 2, were built at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai and put to sea in 1977 and 1978 respectively. These initial vessels provided the People's Republic of China with its first maritime capability to track space launches and satellites outside its domestic territory.

The series has evolved through multiple generations. The first-generation vessels, designated Type 718, utilized Sulzer diesel engines. The second-generation Yuan Wang 3 was followed by Yuan Wang 4, which was converted from the scientific research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 10 and configured to carry a Changhe Z-8 helicopter. Third-generation vessels, including Yuan Wang 5 and Yuan Wang 6, were designed by the 708th Institute of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. Yuan Wang 5 is configured with electronic tracking gear, while Yuan Wang 6 features a fiber-optic onboard information system and dedicated electrical generators. Yuan Wang 7 is equipped with three large dish antennae for space tracking. The later Yuan Wang 8 features multiple radomes and an electronic warfare suite. Additionally, the series includes the Yuan Wang 21 and Yuan Wang 22, which are dedicated cargo vessels designed by the 708th Research Institute to transport Long March 5 rockets.

Yuan Wang 1 and Yuan Wang 2 conducted their first survey mission in May 1980. Originally used to track domestic communications satellites, both vessels underwent overhauls in 1986 to support international satellite launches before their retirement in the early 2010s. For Shenzhou spacecraft missions, the first four vessels of the class were positioned across the Yellow Sea, the South Pacific near French Polynesia, the Atlantic off the Namibian coast, and the Indian Ocean off Western Australia. Yuan Wang 5 and Yuan Wang 6 were deployed to monitor the Shenzhou 7 mission. In August 2007, Yuan Wang 4 suffered severe damage from a collision and subsequent fire at Jiangyin port; it was subsequently converted into a ballistic missile target ship and destroyed in late 2010. Yuan Wang 7 supported the Shenzhou 11 crewed space mission and the Tiangong 2 space laboratory. Commissioned in 2025, Yuan Wang 8 deployed to the Gulf of Paria in late 2025 and the Gulf of Oman in 2026 to monitor United States missile movements. Cargo vessels Yuan Wang 21 and 22 entered service in 2013 to support rocket transportation.