The SJ 17 satellite, funded solely by CAST, is based on the DFH-4S Bus with a mass of nearly 4000 kg.

Shijian-17 is intended to test new technologies and components. The mission is to:

- Test quadruple junction and inverted junction gallium arsenide solar cells
- Test "green propellant" ammonium dinitramide (ADN) powered thrusters
component tests of composite load-carrying structures, solid composite lithium-ion batteries, temperature/vibration control systems, etc. designed by a team at the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) under the project name "Tianfang-1" for testing future improvements on satellite design
- Demonstrate high orbit GNSS-based satellite navigation techniques for the Chinese
- Observe orbital debris at high altitudes, possibly with proximity operations