The purpose of the satellites is not confirmed, although the news reports hint towards a SIGINT mission, especially to detect ships by their radio emissions. They are also known as CX 5 by the manufacturer. They are launched by triplet, in a similar way to the old American NOSS system, or to the Yaogan-31 constellation.

Apocalypse (also named Tianqi) is a series of small Chinese experimental LEO comsats by Guodian Gaoke for IoT (Internet of Things) communications, which are also carrying a camera for educational purposes.

Guodian Gaoke plans to operate an IoT constellation. The "Apocalypse Constellation" provides users with much-needed data collection and transmission services for terrestrial network coverage blind areas, which are widely used in marine, environmental protection, meteorological, forestry, geological, emergency, rescue, and smart city industries to enhance China's global data network coverage and application capabilities are of strategic importance.