HY-2A is the first altimetry and radiometry satellite of the "China National Space Administration" (CNSA), dedicated to the Physical oceanography. The development was conducted with support from the "National Satellite Ocean Application Service" (NSOAS) for the ground segment, the mission and the "China Association for Science and Technologie" (CAST) for the space segment. It is a complement to the HY-1 series which is dedicated to the ocean color.

By the way, HY acronym for Hai Yáng, which means "ocean" in chinese, gave its name to these two satellite series.

HY-2A is the first mission which will serve the French-chinese cooperation in the space oceanography domain. The cooperation will consist in the supplying of the satellite data by NSOAS and for CNES the supplying of the precise orbit based on data supplied by a DORIS instrument, a GPS and the laser measurements made with a dedicated reflector. This precise orbit will be used by NSOAS to create altimetry products that will then be integrated by CNES to realise multi-mission products distributed by AVISO (Archivage Validation Interprétation des Données des Satellites Océanographiques). DORIS data will be available through the International DORIS Service (IDS).

HY-2A was decided in 2007, it was launched under CNSA responsibility by a "Long March CZ-4B" launcher on a sunsynchronous orbit at the final altitude of 970 kilometers.
HY-2A satellite will be operated by NSOAS for a nominal lifetime of 3 years.
HY-2A mission will be double, the first part will an orbit phased at 14 days and a mean altitude of about 971 km and the second part with an orbit phased at 168 days and a mean altitude of about 973 km.
The first part will last 2 years and has an oceanographic vocation, the second part has a geodesic vocation.