Gaofen-9 satellites are observation satellites for civil use, used for the construction of new infrastructure (roads, canals), agricultural crop management, or river traffic management. It is part of the program funded by the state and the Chinese Communist Party "China High-definition Earth Observation System", or CHEOS.

The lack of information on the satellite structure is due to the fact that it is likely based on the CAST2000 platform, which is also used on military satellites such as Yaogan-2.

The satellite's resolution is less than one metre.

Two other small satellites have been boarded on this flight. One is named Tiantuo-5, and the other Multi-functional Test Satellite (MTS).

The multifunctional test satellite will test and verify new technologies such as communication, navigation, and remote sensing in orbit; the Tiantuo-5 satellite will test and verify new technologies for information acquisition such as ships, aircraft, and the Internet of Objects in orbit.