Space Radar Models
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DFH-4 satellite bus

Shape built from published dimensions and the maker’s renders; details estimated.

Turn it in 3D

DFH-4 satellite bus, 3D model, three-quarter view

Open the 3D viewer (www.spaceradar.ai).

The viewer loads when you ask: about 700 kB the first time (three.js and the model), much less after.

Pictures 4

  • DFH-4 satellite bus, three-quarter viewThree-quarter view
  • DFH-4 satellite bus, from the sideFrom the side
  • DFH-4 satellite bus, from behindFrom behind
  • DFH-4 satellite bus, from aboveFrom above

About this model

DFH-4 satellite bus is one of the 203 3D models Space Radar made itself: a satellite, built in code from published dimensions and photographs, with no image-to-3D generator and no one else’s mesh.

Shape built from published dimensions and the maker’s renders; details estimated. It has 14,564 triangles in a 106 kB glTF file, and is 30 m across at full scale.

It is part of the map’s library; no object on the live map is drawn with it today.

Dimensions and their sources

MeasureValue
Body x2.4 m
Body y2.5 m
Body z3.6 m
Span30 m
Reflector2.6 m

GCAT: Zhongxing-10 and Paksat-MM1 3.6 x 2.4 m (the box), the others 5.0 x 2.5 m (with the stowed antennas), Span 30 m for most (15.5 for two), launch mass 5 000 to 5 500 kg. Drawn: a box 2.4 x 2.5 x 3.6 m (5.0 m with the deck antennas), 30.0 m over the wings. OURS (ESTIMATED): the reflectors' 2.6 and 1.5 m, their arms and tilts, three panels of 2.6 x 3.95 m a wing, the yoke and its crossing struts. (read 2026-11-07)

How it was made

Built in code from published dimensions and photographs, with no image-to-3D generator and no one else’s mesh. 3D model: built by Space Radar from published dimensions (McDowell's GCAT, Wikipedia); layout read from the makers' photographs and renders, looked at only.

The full record

built by this project in code (tools/bus-builder, release 2.0.0 batch m4-buses) from published sizes, with the photographs and the maker's renders under `references` LOOKED AT ONLY; no image-to-3D model was used and no published mesh (NASA 3D Resources has none of this bus)

Where the map uses it. the 13 geostationary communications satellites registry/geo-buses.yaml names as CAST DFH-4 (and DFH-4E), by catalogue number; Gaofen-4, Tiantong-1 and Tianlian 2 keep the stand-in. A family FORM, not one satellite's payload: the route is `generic` and the card says the shape is built from the maker's renders. They wore the SSL-1300 stand-in; forge #117

Licence note. The numbers are facts (GCAT CC BY 4.0, Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0); the shape is this project's, under this repository's licence. The photographs and renders named under `references` were LOOKED AT ONLY: no part of any is in a file. NO LOGO AND NO LETTERING is on the mesh.

References 6

What the shape was compared with. None of these pictures is in the file.

  1. Belintersat-1.jpgas named on the Commons file pageCC BY-SA 4.0 (Commons LicenseShortName, read 2026-11-07)
  2. Alcomsat-1 (Gunter's Space Page)CAST / CGWIC, via Gunter's Space Page (Gunter D. Krebs)copyright CAST / CGWIC (a maker's render; looked at only, no part of it is in a file)
  3. APStar-6C (Gunter's Space Page)CAST / CGWIC, via Gunter's Space Page (Gunter D. Krebs)copyright CAST / CGWIC (a maker's render; looked at only, no part of it is in a file)
  4. APStar-6D (Gunter's Space Page)CAST / CGWIC, via Gunter's Space Page (Gunter D. Krebs)copyright CAST / CGWIC (a maker's render; looked at only, no part of it is in a file)
  5. APStar-9 (Gunter's Space Page)CAST / CGWIC, via Gunter's Space Page (Gunter D. Krebs)copyright CAST / CGWIC (a maker's render; looked at only, no part of it is in a file)
  6. General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (GCAT), satcat.tsv of 2026-11-07Jonathan C. McDowellCC BY 4.0 (the catalogue's own statement)

Use it

The model is under the MIT licence: use it, change it and share it, in any project, also a paid one. Keep the credit:

DFH-4 satellite bus 3D model by Space Radar (spaceradar.ai), MIT License

Any glTF 2.0 loader that reads meshopt compression (EXT_meshopt_compression) opens the file: three.js with its MeshoptDecoder, Babylon.js, model-viewer. Tools such as glTF-Transform can write an uncompressed copy.

Or embed the viewer in your page:

<iframe src="https://www.spaceradar.ai/model/?id=bus-dfh-4" title="DFH-4 satellite bus, 3D model by Space Radar" width="600" height="450" loading="lazy" style="border:0;max-width:100%"></iframe>

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