Having entered space with a first launch back in November 2024, the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site has gone on to enable a total of sixteen launch missions to date. In an effort to support aims of more launches into the future, the operator of the launch site, Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Co Ltd (海南国际商业航天发射有限公司), and other invested enterprises, have been working diligently to do so.

Recently, on June 9th, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology announced that work to establish a second Long March 8 series1 preparation bay, inside of a state-owned integration facility at the commercial launch sites technical area, has wrapped up. With the second bay, preparations for Long March 8 series missions can fully move to parallel efforts, no longer limited to the bottleneck of just one. According to the Launch Vehicle Academy, the two bays will allow for around thirty launches of the rocket series per year.

Seeing the Long March 8 series fly that much in a single year is still a ways away, as in March, China Central Television (中国中央电视台) reported that the Long March 8 series of launch vehicles, including the Long March 8 and 8A, is set to fly fifteen times in total this year. So far five flights have taken place this year.

Also revealed on June 9th, via a Weibo post from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (中国航空工业集团), was that the partially reusable Long March 9’s Wenchang factory has had its construction work officially commence. Contracted to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China’s Planning and Design Institute (中国航空规划设计研究总院有限公司), the massive 71.8 square kilometer facility had early ground-breaking work begin in April. Per the Weibo post, foundations are currently being driven into the ground.

In support of other existing launch vehicles, such as the Long March 12 series2, work on Commercial Launch Pad 3 and 4, multi-user ones able to support many rockets so long as they have a transporter-erector, has continued at a steady pace since the start eighteen months ago and below-surface efforts six months ago. In brief progress updates over the past two months, it was detailed that most primary work has been wrapped up as teams focus on installing smaller, but necessary, items across the two pads. Six lightning diversion towers, three for each, are also being built section by section. Items still needing to be finished are launch vehicle transporter-erector mounts and uprighting pistons alongside deluge systems aimed at the base of a rocket, as well as reinforcing of the flame trench and flattening surrounding land to enable smooth vehicle transportation.

In the area between the launch pads, their shared water storage tower for their deluge system has rapidly risen since emerging in February. As of June 4th, that tower has reached a height of one hundred meters, capping construction efforts of its central core. In the coming weeks, necessary plumbing and a water storage tank will be installed atop of the tower, along with a steel support structure that already runs up most of it.

To supply the new launch pads with needed commodities for launch missions, workers have built up a propellant farm for storing liquid oxygen, rocket-grade kerosene, and liquid methane over April and May. Liquid nitrogen systems were also installed in May to ensure propellants remain cold during launch attempts.

With current progress, it is expected that a mission from one of the two launch pads will take place in the fourth quarter (October, November, December) of the year.

Meanwhile, back over at the technical area, a new fourteen-floor Command and Control Center for the entire commercial site has been under construction, reaching its top floor in early May after work began in August 2025. At present, work on the building has shifted indoors, installing electrical, plumbing, and network connections, and wrapping up external work on the shorter other half. Once completed around September, the center will have the responsibilities of running the launch site transferred to it, alongside having the ability to test some satellites before they are placed on launch vehicles being prepared in neighbouring facilities.

Away from the launch site, plans for a multi-user first-stage recovery ship are progressing, having announced intent to do so late last year. Tasked to an enterprise in Shanghai (上海市), work has been quietly underway since March with the main hull completing production at the end of May. The vessel is expected to be similar to iSpace’s drone ship, rather than the Long March 10 series booster catching ship ‘Linghangzhe (领航者)’.

Throughout all of the above construction efforts, provincial and local political support has been sustained, with government officials seeing China’s space industry as a driver of future growth. The latest visit by a government official took place in April, when Wenchang Municipal Committee Secretary Wang Peng (王鹏) inspected the new launch pads to understand their construction schedule.

With a recent return to routine deployments of the Qianfan (千帆) connectivity constellation, China Central Television (中国中央电视台) conducted an interview with Hu Haiying (胡海鹰), who is President of the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院微小卫星创新研究院), which produces some of satellites making up the constellation.

While mainly talking about why and how Chinese enterprises are deploying low Earth orbit constellations, Hu notably disclosed that Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co Ltd (上海垣信卫星科技有限公司), operator of the constellation, aims to have a total of 324 satellites deployed by the end of July to complete a ‘first phase’. At present, there are 200 Qianfan satellites in orbit, having been launched in twelve groups over twenty-two months.

To fulfill that aim, the constellation would need to have seven launches over the next seven weeks, if deploying the usual groups of 18 satellites. Bulk bought launch services and a stockpile of contracted satellites, recently enabled six deployments over two months, starting in April and running through to early June.

Deploying 124 satellites in seven weeks would be an impressive feat for the constellation, but it may be a sign that Shanghai Spacesail Technologies has strong confidence in its launch providers and manufacturers. It could also mean that demonstration missions contracted to LandSpace, CAS Space, and Space Pioneer are set for the near future.

According to a presentation in December 2025, it was detailed that a total of 324 satellites for the Qianfan constellation are set to be deployed throughout this year1, then matched in 2027. At the start of deployments in mid-2024, Shanghai Spacesail Technologies was aiming to have 648 satellites in orbit by the end of 2025. That was missed after several satellites appeared to fail during maneuvers towards operational orbits.

Another interesting detail disclosed by Hu Haiying was that the Microsatellite Academy’s price for a Qianfan satellite, either to manufacture or charged to the constellation operator, has fallen to around 10 million Yuan (1.47 million United States Dollars, as of June 10th). According to CGTN, that is a roughly ninety-six percent cost reduction compared to traditional connectivity satellites. Multiplying that cost by the average count deployed via a launch mission, it comes to about 180 million Yuan (26.5 million United States Dollars).

Compared to the individual spacecraft cost for SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, floating around a million United States Dollars per external estimates and regulatory filings, it is not a significant difference. A notable point of divergence is that Shanghai Spacesail Technologies contracts Qianfan satellite production to several enterprises, state-owned and commercial.

Unlike Starlink, the Qianfan constellation is yet to begin providing its space-based connectivity services to individual users and corporate customers, which will generate revenue for its operator. Towards the end of the year, services are reportedly expected to start in at least Brazil and China. Agreements are also in place to bring those to Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, and airlines as well.

Departing at 15:30 pm China Standard Time (07:30 am Universal Coordinated Time) on June 11th from Launch Complex 101 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, a Long March 5 flew towards geostationary space carrying a single satellite inside its sizable fairing.

Heading into orbit via the launch vehicle was the China Academy of Space Technology built TJSW-25 (通信技术试验卫星二十五号) spacecraft, known as Communication Technology Experimental Satellite-25 in English. Just like the many other satellites of its fleet, it is tasked with demonstrating multi-band, high-throughput communications technologies for radio, television, and data transmission.

TJSW-25 is the second of its line to launch this year, a few weeks after May’s TJSW-24 also lifted off from Wenchang. Both spacecraft are part of a significant expansion of the communications technology demonstration fleet, as nine TJSW spacecraft were deployed in 2025.

Speaking on improvements to the Long March 5’s pre-flight preparation work, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology shared that testing time on the launch pad has been shortened from six days to four, while manufacturer of the four boosters, the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, mentioned overall optimizations in handling and storing each of the stages. Those and further improvements will be needed to hit a goal of up to ten missions per year.

Additionally, the launch vehicle’s 18.5-meter-long fairing was in use for its fifth time to date, allowing larger satellites to be carried into space. The longer fairing has been used to secure the TJSW-23 satellite in December 2025, the TJSW-20 spacecraft in October 2025, and the TJSW-11 satellite in February 2024. It was first used for Yaogan-41 in December 2023.

Today’s launch was the 11th mission for the Long March 5, the 18th launch for the Long March 5 series, and the 650th launch of the Long March launch vehicle series. This was also the 39th launch from China in 2026.

Liftoff video via 我们的太空 on WeChat and ThatSpaceDogeGuy on Twitter.

Launch livestream via ThatSpaceDogeGuy on YouTube.

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Check out the previous Long March 5 launch

What is the Long March 5?

This section is for those less familiar with China’s Long March series of launch vehicles.

The Long March 5 is China’s largest and most capable launch vehicle currently in service, and was developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, with the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology providing the boosters. The two-and-a-half-stage launch vehicle is fuelled with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in its first and second stages, along with rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen in four boosters.

The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is currently as follows:

• 15,000 kilograms to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit

• 14,000 kilograms to a geostationary transfer orbit

• 13,000 kilograms to medium Earth orbit

• 9,400 kilograms to a trans-lunar trajectory

• 6,700 kilograms to a 2,000-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit

• 6,000 kilograms to a trans-Martian trajectory

• 5,100 kilograms to geostationary orbit

The Long March 5’s first-stage is powered by two YF-77 engines, which produce 143 tons of thrust using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. To assist with liftoff, the rocket is equipped with four side boosters, each powered by two YF-100 engines that generate 245 tons of thrust using rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen, providing a combined booster thrust of 979 tons. Together, the first-stage and boosters deliver a total thrust of 1,122 tons. The second stage features two YF-75D engines, generating 18 tons of thrust with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

On the launchpad, the Long March 5 stands up to 63.2 meters tall, with the longer of its two fairing options, and weighs around 851,800 kilograms fully fuelled. The first and second stages have a diameter of 5 meters, while the four boosters have a diameter of 3.35 meters, and the fairing has a diameter of 5.2 meters.

So far, the Long March 5 has only flown from the Wenchang Space Launch Site, on the east coast of Hainan province.

Reaching the Tiangong Space Station for her first spaceflight on May 25th, Li Jiaying (黎家盈)1 has become a local hero back in her hometown of Hong Kong (香港), for being the city’s first spacefarer, with support and congratulatory messages starting to be sent not long after her confirmation to be part of Shenzhou-23 as the Payload Specialist.

The biggest supporters and celebraters of Li and her mission are her family, a husband, two daughters, and a son. In support, the four of them moved to Beijing (北京), and her husband slowed his professional advancement to take over responsibilities of caring for the three children while they settled into new schools. As thanks, Li is carrying photos of them and drawings by them to the station, where she will celebrate her forty-fourth birthday over 400 kilometers up this November.

Beyond her family, one of the first institutions in the city to congratulate the spacefarer was the University of Hong Kong (香港大学), which had a watch party for her launch, where she is an alumna, having completed her PhD there in 2011. In a press release about Li’s mission, the university wrote:

“Her achievement is a moment of immense pride for the entire [University of Hong Kong] community and the city, and a testament to the world-class calibre of our talent. Ka-ying’s2 journey from our labs to the stars embodies the perseverance and excellence of both the [University of Hong Kong] and Hong Kong spirit. … We hope Ka-ying’s mission inspires a new generation of Hong Kong scientists to reach for the stars and contribute to our nation’s glorious space odyssey.”

Other universities within the city were also quick to celebrate Li Jiaying, with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (香港理工大学) praising her mission as an example of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ framework3 for the Special Administrative Region, while the City University of Hong Kong (香港城市大学) lauded the Payload Specialist as a milestone for the city’s scientific research talent within the wider national space program, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (香港科技大学) said that she exemplifies China’s trust for the cities talent, in people and instruments, to work on the orbiting laboratory.

All four universities have supported important missions for China, contributing key hardware, instruments, and experiments. Most recently, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology sent a greenhouse gas monitoring instrument to Tiangong via Tianzhou-10. Previously, the City University of Hong Kong has supported the station’s research into biotechnology. This year, the University of Hong Kong will head to the lunar surface through its joint International Lunar Observatory Camera. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University developed Chang’e 5 and Chang’e 6’s lunar surface sampling arms.

In the days before launch, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu (李家超), who has been expected taikonaut from the city to fly for almost a year, spoke with Li Jiaying on a video call to express support and to ask how mission preparations were going, to which she responded:

“My schedule is packed every day, it’s been really tough. But I feel like things are finally coming together, and I’m now confident I can complete this task. I have never been away from Hong Kong for this long before, so I’m hoping that once I finish this, I can get back to Hong Kong as soon as possible to experience everything the city has to offer.”

If there are any problems with this translation please reach out and correct me.

The Chief Executive also took part in an official celebratory video from the government of the Special Administrative Region, shared the day before Shenzhou-23 launched, hitting the same notes as the universities.

Li Jiaying’s mission has also been celebrated by friends and former colleagues, praising her professional, academic, and personal character, labelling her as a suitable representative of Hong Kong in outer space too.

When she returns to Hong Kong near the end of the year, or sometime in 2027 (should she be chosen for the yearlong stay that Shenzhou-23 taikonauts are candidates for), Li will likely be greeted with celebrations worthy of a hero. Upon completing China’s first crewed spaceflight in 2003, Yang Liwei (杨利伟) of Shenzhou-5, had a significantly popular visit that inspired many locals, including the new local hero. Taikonauts of later missions have also visited the city, albeit with less celebrations surrounding them.

For now, Li Jiaying is focused on the Shenzhou-23 mission alongside her crewmates Zhu Yangzhu (朱杨柱)4 and Zhang Zhiyuan (张志远)5 for the next six months.

On June 9th at 16:23 China Standard Time (08:23 Universal Coordinated Time), LandSpace’s Zhuque-2E departed from Launch Area 96A at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, heading into low Earth orbit with two experimental connectivity satellites.

One of those was revealed to be China Mobile Satellite 02 (中国移动02星) from, as its name suggests, telecom provider China Mobile (中国移动), which filed for 2,664 satellites in December 2025. That demonstration satellite is, built by GalaxySpace (银河航天), expected to prove space-based mobile broadband services, which the state-owned enterprise was authorized to start in September 2025. It joins another test satellite launched back in February 2024.

The other satellite belonged to Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co Ltd (上海垣信卫星科技有限公司), of the Qianfan (千帆) constellation, with their payload being ‘Qianfan Direct-To-Cell-01 Satellite (千帆DTC01星)’, tasked with demonstrating systems and services needed for providing connectivity to handheld mobile devices. Made by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院微小卫星创新研究院), its design is slightly larger than that of existing Qianfan satellites, still featuring a single solar panel, swapping its usual antennas for a sizeable, several-square-meter phased-array antenna. It is theorized that the experimental satellite may be a test for a second-generation of satellites that will be launched in the near future.

As part of a continual upgrade process to improve the launch vehicles' capabilities, today’s Zhuque-2E has ditched its stage separation motors for a piston that pushes on the second-stage TQ-15A engine ahead of ignition, while removing tank pressurization gas bottles from the interstage. The TQ-15A engine mount has also been optimized and had its mass reduced thanks to 3D printing.

Additionally, this year LandSpace aims to perform six to ten launch missions, with today being its second, and a few weeks before the second partially reusable Zhuque-3. In support of that goal, Zhuque-2E’s design has been ‘locked’ for about the next ten flights, enabling batch production.

Today’s mission was the 5th flight of Zhuque-2E, and the 8th flight of LandSpace’s Zhuque-2 series. This was also the 38th launch from China in 2026.

Zhuque-2E Y6 mission recap via LandSpace on Twitter.

Liftoff video via 大漠问天 and 我们的太空 on WeChat.

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Check out the previous Zhuque-2E launch

What is Zhuque-2E?

This section is for those less familiar with China’s various commercial launch vehicles.

Zhuque-2E is LandSpace’s privately-developed commercial launch vehicle, and is largely based on the company’s Zhuque-2 vehicle. The vehicle consists of two stages both burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen.

The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is currently as follows:

• 6,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit

• 4,000 kilograms to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit

Four TQ-12A engines power the first stage to generate 338 tons of thrust while burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen. The second-stage is powered by a single TQ-15A engine, also burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen, to produce 85 tons of thrust.

On the launch pad, Zhuque-2E is 55.9 meters tall and weighs 267,000 kilograms when fully fuelled. The first-stage and second-stage, have a diameter of 3.35 meters, while the fairing has a diameter of 4.2 meters.

This page will be continuously updated as China launches satellites for the Qianfan, GuoWang, Honghu-3, Geely Future Mobility, Tianqi, and Three-Body Computing constellations. These six constellations are expected to have a combined satellite count of 50,730 once fully deployed.

I will share when this page is updated on my Twitter (officially “X”) and Bluesky account, where you can also pester me to update it. You can jump to each constellation with the following hyperlinks:

• Qianfan

  • Qianfan Test Satellites

• GuoWang

  • GuoWang GEO Segment

  • GuoWang Test Satellites

• Honghu-3

• Geely Future Mobility Constellation

• Tianqi

• Three-Body Computing Constellation

Qianfan

The Qianfan (千帆) mega-constellation, formerly called G60 Starlink, is operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co Ltd (上海垣信卫星科技有限公司), which is partly backed by the municipal government of Shanghai. Qianfan literally means ‘Thousand Sails’ in English, which is why some media refer to it as such.

This constellation may have up to 15,000 satellites in orbit by 2030. As of December 2025, the deployment aims of the constellation should have 324 satellites launched in 2026, 324 in 2027, and 4,000 in 2028 and 2029, followed by 5,000 in 2030.

Each first-generation Qianfan satellite weighs 267 kilograms and can utilize 100 gigabits of intersatellite throughput to provide 20 megabits in download speed and 5 megabits of upload speed for a cell phone. For maneuvering in orbit, each satellite has an electric hall-effect thruster burning krypton to generate 20 millinewtons of thrust, with a specific impulse of 1,385 seconds.

Future second-generation satellites will weigh between 400 and 500 kilograms, while third-generation satellites will be around 1,500 kilograms. Second-generation satellites will provide maritime services along with the constellations’ terrestrial services, and third-generation satellites will improve overall services.

So far, 200 satellites have been launched for this constellation. A visualization of active satellites in orbit is available here.

2024

August 6th - 1st Qianfan Group (18 satellites)

On August 6th the first batch of satellites for Qianfan was sent into a polar orbit atop of a Long March 6A. This launch occurred from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

After launch 18 satellites were deployed from the Long March 6A Y21’s second-stage, at an altitude of approximately 800 kilometers.

October 15th - 2nd Qianfan Group (18 satellites)

A little over two months later, the second batch of Qianfan satellites were sent into polar orbit atop of a Long March 6A, also from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

Following launch 18 satellites were deployed from the Long March 6A Y20’s second-stage, likely at a similar altitude to the first batch.

December 5th - 3rd Qianfan Group (18 satellites)

Following another two-month gap, the third batch of Qianfan satellites were delivered to polar orbit atop of a Long March 6A, once again flying from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

After launch 18 satellites were deployed from the Long March 6A Y22’s second-stage.

2025

January 23rd - 4th Qianfan Group (18 satellites)

Qianfan began deployment in 2025 with its fourth batch, officially group six, being sent to polar orbit by a Long March 6A, flying from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

After launch 18 satellites were released from the Long March 6A Y6’s second-stage.

March 11th - 5th Qianfan Group (18 satellites)

For its first mission atop of the Long March 8, Qianfan’s second launch of 2025 saw the deployment of group five, for the fifth batch of satellites. With the mission flying from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site.

After launch 18 satellites were released from the Long March 8' Y6’s second-stage.

October 17th - 6th Qianfan Group (18 satellites)

Following a seven-month pause, Qianfan’s Polar Group 18 was launched atop a Long March 6A from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, placing eighteen satellites into orbit. This was the constellation’s sixth launch.

2026

April 7th - 7th Qianfan Group (18 satellites)

Off of Commercial Launch Pad 1 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, Qianfan’s seventh overall group of satellites was deployed into a near-polar orbit by a Long March 8, with eighteen satellites onboard.

May 12th - 8th Qianfan Group (18 satellites)

From the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, a Long March 6A delivered Qianfan’s Polar Group 09 into a near-polar orbit, with eighteen satellites released. This was the constellation’s eighth group overall.

May 17th - 9th Qianfan Group (18 satellites)

A Long March 8 departed from Commercial Launch Pad 1 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site to deliver Qianfan’s ninth overall group into sun-synchronous orbit, with eighteen satellites being released.

June 1st - 10th Qianfan Group (2 satellites)

The first Long March 12B carried the tenth overall group of Qianfan satellites, deploying two, for the constellation’s first launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center into a polar orbit.

June 4th - 11th Qianfan Group (18 satellites)

Eighteen more Qianfan satellites were added to polar orbit, with the launch of its eleventh overall group via a Long March 6A from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

June 5th - 12th Qianfan Group (18 satellites)

Another Long March 8 flew from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site to bring eighteen Qianfan satellites into polar orbit, for its twelfth overall group. Some maritime support services were said to have been enabled after deployment.

Qianfan Test Satellites

Prior to the beginning of deployments in 2024, Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co Ltd had a few test satellites launched through its backing of German enterprise KLEO connect. Others have been launched after the start of main deployments.

2019

November 17th - KL-Alpha Duo

Via ExPace’s Kuaizhou-1A out of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, two test satellites dubbed KL-Alpha-A and KL-Alpha-B were placed into low Earth orbit for testing Ka-band coordination. The duo had their manufacturing contracted to the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院微小卫星创新研究院).

2021

August 4th - KL-Beta Duo

Two more test satellites, called KL-Beta-A and KL-Beta-B, were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Long March 6 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center for testing laser-interconnect coordination as well as electric propulsion. Their manufacturing was also contracted to the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院微小卫星创新研究院).

2026

June 9th - Qianfan Direct-To-Cell-01 Satellite

LandSpace’s Zhuque-2E carried the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院微小卫星创新研究院) made ‘Qianfan Direct-To-Cell-01 Satellite (千帆DTC01星)’ into low Earth orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The satellite will demonstrate systems and services needed for providing connectivity to handheld mobile devices.

GuoWang

The GuoWang (国网)1 mega-constellation, commonly called Weixing Hulianwang Digui (卫星互联网低轨)2 by Chinese-language media and sometimes known as Xingwang (星网)3, is operated by China Satellite Network Group (中国卫星网络集团有限公司), and is backed by the Chinese government.

This constellation may have up to 13,000 satellites in orbit once fully deployed. As of December 2025, the deployment aims of the constellation should have 310 satellites launched in 2026, 900 in 2027, and 3,600 in 2028, 2029, and 2030.

So far, 168 satellites have been launched for this constellation. A visualization of active satellites in orbit is available here.

2024

December 16th - GuoWang Group 01 (10 satellites)

The first group of GuoWang satellites entered a polar orbit on December 16th after being launched on a Long March 5B, with a Yuanzheng-2 upper-stage, from the Wenchang Space Launch Site.

After maneuvers with the Yuangzheng-2 upper-stage, the 10 satellites were tracked in a roughly 1,090-kilometer by 1,110-kilometer orbit.

2025

February 11th - GuoWang Group 02 (9 satellites)

A second group of GuoWang satellites was delivered into low Earth orbit by the first Long March 8A, from the Wenchang Space Launch Site. This launch had nine satellites were onboard, which were deployed into a roughly 871 by 860 kilometer orbit.

April 29th - GuoWang Group 03 (10 satellites)

The third group of satellites for GuoWang were delivered to a polar orbit on April 29th via a Long March 5B with a Yuanzheng-2 upper-stage. This launch had ten satellites deployed once in orbit.

June 6th - GuoWang Group 04 (5 satellites)

A Long March 6A launched the fourth group of GuoWang satellites to polar orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, becoming the first time GuoWang satellites were delivered to orbit from the site. Five satellites are believed to have been onboard.

July 27th - GuoWang Group 05 (5 satellites)

The fifth batch of GuoWang satellites were sent to polar orbit atop of a Long March 6A, flying from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. Five satellites are believed to have been onboard.

July 30th - GuoWang Group 06 (9 satellites)

A Long March 8A delivered the sixth group of GuoWang satellites to low Earth orbit, flying out of the Wenchang Space Launch Site. Nine satellites were believed to have been onboard.

August 4th - GuoWang Group 07 (9 satellites)

The seventh batch of GuoWang satellites headed to low Earth orbit atop of a Long March 12. Another nine satellites were believed to have been onboard.

August 13th - GuoWang Group 08 (10 satellites)

Ten more GuoWang satellites, for the constellation’s eighth batch, headed to a polar orbit atop of a Long March 5B flying out of the Wenchang Space Launch Site, with a Yuanzheng-2 upper-stage bringing the satellites toward their intended orbit.

August 17th - GuoWang Group 09 (5 satellites)

Via a Long March 6A from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, five satellites were sent into orbit for GuoWang’s ninth group.

August 25th - GuoWang Group 10 (9 satellites)

GuoWang’s tenth batch of satellites, likely with nine onboard, was delivered to low Earth orbit by a Long March 8A flying out of the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site.

September 27th - GuoWang Group 11 (5 satellites)

Through another Long March 6A launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, five more satellites for the GuoWang constellation were delivered to low Earth orbit.

October 16th - GuoWang Group 12 (9 satellites)

A Long March 8A delivered nine satellites for the GuoWang constellation into low Earth orbit from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site for the twelfth group overall.

November 10th - GuoWang Group 13 (9 satellites)

Via a Long March 12 flying out of the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, nine satellites for GuoWang were sent into low Earth orbit for the thirteenth group overall.

December 6th - GuoWang Group 14 (9 satellites)

A Long March 8A carried nine satellites for GuoWang into low Earth orbit from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site for the fourteenth group overall.

December 8th - GuoWang Group 15 (5 satellites)

Five GuoWang spacecraft were added to the mega-constellation via a Long March 6A mission to polar orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

December 12th - GuoWang Group 16 (9 satellites)

GuoWang’s sixteenth group of satellites, nine onboard, was delivered to low Earth orbit by a Long March 12 launching from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site.

December 26th - GuoWang Group 17 (9 satellites)

For GuoWang’s last launch of 2025, the seventeenth group of satellites were launched atop of a Long March 8A from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site.

2026

January 13th - GuoWang Group 18 (9 satellites)

Starting GuoWang deployments in 2026, a Long March 8A flew from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site while carrying nine satellites for the constellation’s eighteenth group.

January 19th - GuoWang Group 19 (9 satellites)

A Long March 12 supported the deployment of GuoWang’s nineteenth group, with nine satellites being placed into low Earth orbit following a mission from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site.

March 12th - GuoWang Group 20 (9 satellites)

Out of the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, a Long March 8A carried nine GuoWang satellites into low Earth orbit as part of the mega-constellation’s twentieth group.

April 9th - GuoWang Group 21 (5 satellites)

From the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, another five GuoWang spacecraft were placed into orbit by a Long March 6A for the twenty-first deployment of the mega-constellation.

GuoWang GEO Segment

While not explicitly part of the low Earth orbit constellation (and not counted in the total count), GuoWang is believed to be receiving support from a few satellites, dubbed WHG or Weixing Hulianwang Gaogui (卫星互联网高轨), also known as internet high-orbit satellite in English, in geostationary space to bridge gaps in coverage or provide low-bandwidth coverage in select areas. Based on the satellite platform, likely the China Academy of Space Technology’s Dongfanghong-4, up to 200 Gigabits per second of throughput could be available.

Currently, 3 satellites make up the geostationary support segment, being placed at: 33.6 degrees East over central Africa, 77.2 degrees West over northern South America, and 153.2 degrees East just above Papua New Guinea.

2024

February 29th - WHG-01 (33.6 degrees East)

The first WHG satellite was delivered to a geostationary transfer orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center by a Long March 3B/E on February 29th.

August 1st - WHG-02 (77.2 degrees West)

A second WHG satellite was launched into a geostationary transfer orbit by a Long March 3B/E rocket a few months later, on August 1st from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

October 10th - WHG-03 (153.2 degrees East)

The third WHG-designated satellite blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on October 10th atop of a Long March 3B/E heading for a geostationary transfer orbit.

GuoWang Test Satellites

While yet to be officially stated as test satellites for the GuoWang constellation (also not counted in the total count), over a dozen have been launched under a similar designation and with the same spacecraft developers as GuoWang. Test satellite designations have been designated Digui Tongxin Weixing (低轨通信卫星), Low-orbit Communication Satellites in English, and Weixing Hulianwang Jishu Shiyan (卫星互联网技术试验卫星), literally Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellite.

So far, 33 test satellites appear to have been launched.

2021

August 24th - Low-orbit Communication Satellites 01, 02, 03

From the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Three Low-orbit communication Satellites were sent into low Earth orbit on a Long March 2C with a Yuanzheng-1S upper-stage on August 24th to begin trialing constellation services and technologies.

2022

May 20th - Low-orbit Communication Satellites 04, 05, 06

Another three Low-orbit Communication Satellites were launched by a Long March 2C with a Yuanzheng-1S upper-stage on May 20th from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to further constellation technology and service trials.

2023

July 9th - Two Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites

A Long March 2C with a Yuanzheng-1S upper-stage flew from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying two Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites into low Earth orbit on July 9th.

November 23rd - Three Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites

Three Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites were launched on November 23rd from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center via a Long March 2D with a Yaunzheng-3 upper-stage heading into low Earth orbit.

December 5th - One Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellite

A single Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellite was sent into polar orbit by a Jielong-3 off of a floating platform near Yangjiang (阳江市), Guangdong Province (广东), on December 5th.

December 30th - Three Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites

A Long March 2C with a Yuanzheng-1S upper-stage flew from the Jiuqan Satellite Launch Center on December 30th, carrying three Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites into low Earth orbit.

2024

November 30th - One Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellite

The debut flight of the Long March 12 on November 30th delivered one Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellite into low Earth orbit from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site.

2025

April 1st - Four Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites

On April 1st, a Long March 2D carried four Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites into low Earth orbit on April 1st from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

September 16th - Four Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites

Another four Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites were launched on a Long March 2C with a Yuanzheng-1S upper-stage on September 16th from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

2026

April 11th - One Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellite

A Jielong-3 flying from the South China Sea, delivered a single Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellite into sun-synchronous orbit on April 11th.

April 24th - Four Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites

Four Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites were placed into low Earth orbit by a Long March 2D flying from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on April 24th.

May 31st - Four Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites

Another four Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites were delivered to low Earth orbit by a Long March 2D flying from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the early hours of May 31st.

Honghu-3

The Honghu-3 (鸿鹄-3) mega-constellation is a joint venture between LandSpace, a launch company, and Hongqing Technology, a satellite manufacturer. LandSpace holds a 48% stake in Hongqing Technology. This constellation may have up to 10,000 satellites in orbit once fully deployed.

Pending first launch.

Geely Future Mobility Constellation

The Geely Future Mobility Constellation is backed by Chinese automaker Geely, doing business as Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (浙江吉利控股集团有限公司), with its wholly-owned subsidiary Geespace developing spacecraft and managing the constellation. This constellation will provide communication, connectivity, and positioning services. Once phases two and three of satellite deployment is completed, services will be expanded to include connectivity to mobile phones and satellite internet.

Geespace plans to deploy the mega-constellation in three phases. Phase one (2022-2025) will have 72 satellites sent into orbit, phase two will add an additional 264 satellites, and phase three will add another 5,676 satellites. In total, 6,012 satellites are planned to be deployed.

So far, 64 satellites have been launched for this constellation.

2022

June 2nd - Future Mobility Group 01 (9 satellites)

June 2nd 2022 had the first group of the Geely Future Mobility satellites enter orbit after a launch atop of a Long March 2C launching from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. This is believed to have made Geespace China’s first privately owned developer, operator, and mass producer of low-orbit commercial satellites.

After launch 9 satellites were deployed.

2024

February 3rd - Future Mobility Group 02 (11 satellites)

The second group of Geely Future Mobility satellites entered orbit on February 3rd 2024 after launching atop a Long March 2C from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, like the previous launch.

After launch 11 satellites were deployed.

September 6th - Future Mobility Group 03 (10 satellites)

The third group of satellites for the Geely Future Mobility Constellation was launched atop of a Long March 6 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. This was the first time a group for the constellation was launched aboard a non-hypergolic fuelled launch vehicle.

After launch 10 satellites were deployed from the Long March 6 Y11’s third-stage.

2025

August 8th - Future Mobility Group 04 (11 satellites)

Off the coast of Rizhao, in Shandong province, a Jielong-3 carried 11 satellites into low Earth orbit for the Geely Future Mobility Constellation. This was the first time the constellation was expanded via a sea launch.

September 8th - Future Mobility Group 05 (11 satellites)

Atop another Jielong-3, 11 satellites were sent to low Earth orbit near Rizhao. This was the second of three back-to-back-to-back sea launches for the constellation.

September 24th - Future Mobility Group 06 (12 satellites)

Geespace’s largest group of satellites, 12 onboard, were launched by yet another Jielong-3 from a sea-launch platform near Rizhao for the third mission in a series of back-to-back-to-back deployments.

Tianqi

Tianqi (天启) is an Internet-of-Things constellation from commercial space company Guodian Gaoke (国电高科). To date, the constellation services have been used by a handful of enterprises for forestry, agriculture, aquaculture, petroleum, emergency response, ecological environment conservation, and smart city development in any weather at any time.

Guodian Gaoke started deploying the constellation with many 50-kilogram satellites via many smaller launch vehicles. Over the coming years, 1,132 satellites of roughly 360 kilograms will be launched to provide mobile direct-to-device services.

So far, 41 satellites have been launched for this constellation.

2018

October 29th - Tianqi-1 (1 satellite)

The first Tianqi satellite was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center atop of a Long March 2C and as a secondary payload.

2019

June 5th - Tianqi-3 (1 satellite)

The next Tianqi satellite sent into orbit was Tianqi-3 which was launched from the Yellow Sea atop of a Long March 11.

August 17th - Tianqi-2 (1 satellite)

Tianqi-2 was the third satellite launched and was sent into orbit during the maiden launch of Jielong-1 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

December 7th - Tianqi-4A & Tianqi 4B (2 satellites)

Two Tianqi satellites were launched atop of a Kuaizhou-1A from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. These satellites were Tianqi-4A and 4B.

2020

January 15th - Tianqi-5 (1 satellite)

Tianqi-5 was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center by a Long March 2D as part of a multi-customer rideshare.

July 25th - Tianqi-10 (1 satellite)

A Long March 4B launching from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carried Tianqi-10 into orbit as one of three payloads.

October 26th - Tianqi-6 (1 satellite)

A Long March 2C carried Tianqi-6 as a secondary payload during a launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

November 7th - Tianqi-11 (1 satellite)

Tianqi-11 was the sole satellite aboard the maiden launch of Ceres-1 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

December 22nd - Tianqi-8 (1 satellite)

Tianqi-8 was launched atop of a Long March 8 from the Wenchang Space Launch Site as part of the vehicles maiden flight.

2021

April 27th - Tianqi-9 (1 satellite)

A Long March 6 carried Tianqi-9 as part of a multi-customer rideshare mission from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

May 6th - Tianqi-12 (1 satellite)

Tianqi-12 was a secondary payload during the launch of a Long March 2C from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

June 18th - Tianqi-14 (1 satellite)

Tianqi-14 was launched as a secondary payload atop of a Long March 2C during a launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

July 19th - Tianqi-15 (1 satellite)

Tianqi-15 was also launched as a secondary payload atop a Long March 2C during a launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, a month after the last launch.

2022

February 27th - Tianqi-19 (1 satellite)

Tianqi-19 was launched atop of a Long March 8 during a multi-customer rideshare mission from the Wenchang Space Launch Site. This satellite was also the first of the second generation of Tianqi spacecraft.

December 9th - Tianqi-7 (1 satellite)

A Jielong-3 launched Tianqi-7 into orbit as part of a multi-customer rideshare launch from the Yellow Sea.

2023

January 9th - Tianqi-13 (1 satellite)

A Ceres-1 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carried Tianqi-13 satellite into orbit at the beginning of 2023.

September 5th - Tianqi-21, 22, 23, & 24 (4 satellites)

Four Tianqi satellites were launched atop of a Ceres-1S from the Yellow Sea. These satellites were Tianqi-21, Tianqi-22, Tianqi-23, and Tianqi-24.

2024

May 29th - Tianqi-25, 26, 27, & 28 (4 satellites)

Another Ceres-1S carried another four Tianqi satellites into orbit from the Yellow Sea. These satellites were Tianqi-25, Tianqi-26, Tianqi-27, and Tianqi-28.

September 20th - Tianqi-29, 30, 31, & 32 (4 satellites)

Another four Tianqi satellites were launched, these satellites were carried into orbit by a Kuaizhou-1A from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. These satellites were Tianqi-29, Tianqi-30, Tianqi-31, and Tianqi-32.

December 19th - Tianqi-33, 34, 35, & 36 (4 satellites)

A Ceres-1S launched four Tianqi satellites into orbit from the Yellow Sea near the city of Rizhao. These satellites were Tianqi-33, Tianqi-34, Tianqi-35, and Tianqi-36, released into an 850-kilometer 45-degree inclination low Earth orbit.

2025

May 19th - Tianqi-16, 17, 19, & 20 (4 satellites)

Another Ceres-1S delivered four more Tianqi satellites to a 850-kilometer 45-degree inclination low Earth orbit from the coast of Rizhao in the Yellow Sea. The satellites being launched were Tianqi-16, Tianqi-17, Tianqi-19, and Tianqi-20.

2026

January 15th - Tianqi-37, 38, 39, & 40 (4 satellites)

Several months after the previous deployment, a Ceres-1S carried four Tianqi satellites into an 850-kilometer 45-degree inclination low Earth orbit from the coast of Rizhao. These satellites were designated Tianqi-37, Tianqi-38, Tianqi-39, and Tianqi-40.

Three-Body Computing Constellation

The Three-Body Computing Constellation is a computing constellation that aims to integrate space and ground computing into a single AI-enabled infrastructure, allowing for the processing of satellite data in space. ADA Space, also known as Chengdu Guoxing Aerospace Technology Co Ltd (成都国星航天科技有限公司) and shortened to Guoxing Aerospace, and Zhejiang Lab (之江实验室) are developing the constellation.

Up to 2,800 satellites are planned to be part of the constellation. To launch that many satellites, the constellation’s developers are utilizing two different designs. One satellite design, called ‘type one’, is stackable, allowing numerous spacecraft of the same design to be placed on top of each other. The other design, dubbed ‘type two’, is a more conventional CubeSat, allowing it to be a secondary payload for other missions with extra payload capacity left.

So far, 12 satellites have been launched for this constellation.

2025

May 15th - Computing Group 01 (12 satellites)

A Long March 2D blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carrying the first 12 satellites for the Three-Body Computing Constellation into orbit. Two ‘type one’ and ten ‘type two’ satellites were onboard for the launch.

What is a mega-constellation?

A mega-constellation of satellites has no firm definition but is normally comprised of thousands of satellites when referred to in media. No solid number is stated for the beginning of mega-constellations. For the purposes of this article, I believe a mega-constellation is any satellite network boasting over 1,000 spacecraft.

Satellite constellations are typically defined as:

“A satellite constellation is a group of artificial satellites working together as a system. Unlike a single satellite, a constellation can provide permanent global or near-global coverage, such that at any time everywhere on Earth at least one satellite is visible. Satellites are typically placed in sets of complementary orbital planes and connect to globally distributed ground stations. They may also use inter-satellite communication.”
- Wikipedia’s Satellite constellation page on September 27th 2024.

Article Updates

This section is a list of when this article was updated. The date published will also be moved forward with each update.

August 10th 2024: Article released.

September 27th 2024: Added Geely’s Future Mobility Constellation and Guodian Gaoke’s Tianqi Internet-of-Things constellation to reflect both company’s future plans. Also added the ‘What is a mega-constellation?’ section. Removed hyperlinks to years due to bugs with substacks heading links.

October 15th 2024: Added Qianfan Polar Group 02 (18 satellites) after a successful launch.

November 29th 2024: Expanded on Geely’s Future Mobility Constellation service offerings for phases two and three of operations. Also added a link to Bluesky.

December 5th 2024: Added Qianfan Polar Group 03 (18 satellites) after a successful launch.

December 16th 2024: Added the first GuoWang launch, GuoWang Group 01 (10 satellites).

December 19th 2024: Added the launch of Tianqi-33, Tianqi-34, Tianqi-35, and Tianqi-36.

January 23rd 2025: Added Qianfan Polar Group 06 (18 satellites) after a successful launch.

February 11th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 02, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 8A.

March 11th 2025: Added Qianfan Polar Group 05 (18 satellites) after a successful launch from Wenchang.

April 29th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 03, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 5B.

May 4th 2025: Updated Qianfan constellation details, specifically with satellite generations.

May 15th 2025: Added the Three-Body Computing Constellation.

May 19th 2025: Added Tianqi-16, 17, 19, & 20.

June 6th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 04, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion following the successful launch of a Long March 6A.

July 27th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 05, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion following the successful launch of a Long March 6A.

July 30th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 06, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 8A.

August 4th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 07, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 12.

August 8th 2025: Added Geely Future Mobility Constellation Group 04, with 11 satellites, after successful launch of a Jielong-3.

August 13th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 08, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 5B.

August 17th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 09, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 6A.

August 18th 2025: Added the GuoWang GEO Segment, with its three WHG satellites.

August 25th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 10, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 8A.

September 8th 2025: Added Geely Future Mobility Constellation Group 05, with 11 satellites, after successful launch of a Jielong-3.

September 16th 2025: Added GuoWang Test Satellites section and related launches.

September 24th 2025: Added Geely Future Mobility Constellation Group 06, with 12 satellites, after successful launch of a Jielong-3.

September 27th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 11, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 6A.

October 16th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 12, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 8A.

October 17th 2025: Added Qianfan Polar Group 18 (18 satellites) after a successful launch from Taiyuan.

November 10th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 13, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 12. Also another name for the GuoWang constellation.

December 6th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 14, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 8A.

December 9th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 15, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 6A.

December 12th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 16, with basically confirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 12.

December 26th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 17 with basically confirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 8A. Also included GuoWang and Qianfan deployment aims, shared in December 2025.

January 13th 2026: Added GuoWang Group 18, with basically confirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 8A. Also added Qianfan test satellite launches.

January 15th 2026: Added Tianqi-37, 38, 39, & 40 after a successful launch.

January 19th 2026: Added GuoWang Group 19, with basically confirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 12.

March 12th 2026: Added GuoWang Group 20, with basically confirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 8A.

April 7th 2026: Added Qianfan Polar Group 07 (18 satellites) after a successful launch from Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site via a Long March 8.

April 8th/9th 2026: Added GuoWang Group 21 after a successful launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center atop of a Long March 6A.

April 11th 2026: Added April 11th’s Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellite launch following a Jielong-3 launch mission.

April 24th 2026: Added April 24th’s four Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites launch following a Long March 2D launch mission.

May 12th 2026: Added Qianfan Polar Group 09 (18 satellites) after a successful launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center via a Long March 6A.

May 17th 2026: Added 9th Qianfan Group (18 satellites) after a successful launch from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site atop of a Long March 8. Also renamed all previous groups to a sequential scheme due to several conflicting ones in use for Qianfan across its operator, contracted manufacturers, and launch vehicle providers that are used interchangeably.

May 30th 2026: Added May 31st’s four Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellites launch following a Long March 2D launch mission.

June 1st 2026: Added 10th Qianfan Group (2 satellites) after a successful debut launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center via a Long March 12B.

June 4th 2026: Added 11th Qianfan Group (18 satellites) after a successful launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center via a Long March 6A.

June 5th 2026: Added 12th Qianfan Group (18 satellites) after a successful launch from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site via a Long March 8.

June 9th 2026: Added the demonstration ‘Qianfan Direct-To-Cell-01 Satellite’ after a successful Zhuque-2E mission. Also updated the Tianqi constellation’s details regarding future plans.

With forty-one satellites deployed to date, Guodian Gaoke’s (国电高科)1 Tianqi (天启) Internet-of-Things constellation is one of China’s well-established space-based connectivity efforts, with its first satellite launched back in 2018 and the newest four added in January to complete the first phase.

Thanks to that orbital seniority, Guodian Gaoke was a key part of the Beijing Satellite Internet of Things Industry Development Conference (北京市卫星物联网行业发展大会) on June 1st, along with ten government departments and other commercial space enterprises, to coordinate development of the sector while understanding the intended direction of the space industry and regulators. Malaysia’s MEASAT was also in attendance2.

At the conference, Lu Qiang (吕强), Chairman of Guodian Gaoke, announced that the second phase of Tianqi deployments will start this year, featuring a new satellite design. That design will have them grow from 50 kilograms to about 360 kilograms, a mass increase of over sevenfold, while increasing connectivity throughput by around sixfold over their current capacity. That second phase will begin with at least seven satellites launched by 20283.

It’s unknown if the larger second phase satellites will standardize components, as the company boasted about producing over ten different types of antennas with six modules able to be added to previously launched satellites during production.

Using larger satellites, Guodian Gaoke expects to expand its user base in and around cities while bringing in new ones within China from remote regions, vessels offshore, and aircraft, as well as mobile direct-to-device offerings and being a part of 6G infrastructures currently being formulated. Additionally, the company is aiming to offer its connectivity services to international customers. Only an enterprise agreement with MEASAT is known to have been signed to enable those.

The newly announced satellites may be related to a 1,132-satellite filing by Guodian Gaoke with the International Telecommunications Union in December 2025, with frequencies requested being within the VHF and L-bands used for marine, aviation, and mobile services. It could also be replacing a previous filing for 3,240 spacecraft that would likely have used smaller satellites.

Previously, Tianqi services have been used by a handful of enterprises for forestry, agriculture, aquaculture, petroleum, emergency response, ecological environment conservation, and smart city development in any weather at any time.

In May, Guodian Gaoke was approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (中华人民共和国工业和信息化部) to trial Tianqi connectivity services to general users across China. That approval is a step towards a national aim of having over ten million users of space-based connectivity services by 2030.

Those two crews spent just under four days working with each other, with the new trio primarily tasked with adapting to microgravity and performing monitoring experiments related to it. On their final full day of working together, Shenzhou-23’s taikonauts were symbolically handed the keys to the space station and had responsibility for it signed over to them from Shenzhou-21.

With their responsibilities handed over, the Shenzhou-21 crew returned to Earth on May 29th, ending their seven-month stay and returning the orbiting laboratory to its permanent occupancy state of three taikonauts.

Events and activities performed by the six spacefarers during their time together has recently been shared by the China Manned Space Agency via a new episode of ‘Tiangong TV’, a usually weekly show about the station that is released a few days behind current events.

Attached below is a translated transcript of the newest episode:

Not long ago, the Chinese space station witnessed its eighth space reunion. The six taikonauts from Shenzhou-23 and Shenzhou-21 worked side-by-side to conduct space science experiments and complete the on-orbit handover. The new season of Tiangong TV will continue to accompany everyone on this exciting space journey.

During the on-orbit crew rotation, the two crews lived and worked closely together to complete a comprehensive handover. As planned, the Shenzhou-23 crew will launch over one hundred new scientific and applied projects during their mission, focusing on in-depth research and verification of cutting-edge scientific and technological issues in fields such as space life sciences, space materials science, microgravity fluid physics, space medicine, and new space technologies.

After bidding farewell to their colleagues, the Shenzhou-23 crew closely monitored the progress of the [Shenzhou-21] return mission. Currently, taikonauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Li Jiaying have adapted to the microgravity environment and are carrying out their tasks according to the work plan and schedule.

Currently, the Shenzhou-23 crew's orbital work is progressing smoothly. Stay tuned for more new events in space. See you next week!

If there are any problems with this translation please reach out and correct me.

Tiangong TV Episode June 7th 2026 produced by the China Manned Space Agency, cloned to YouTube for viewing on the Western internet and archival.

With plans to build space-based solar power stations, gigawatt-scale orbital computing facilities, support a crewed Moon research station, and enable missions to Mars, the Long March 91 is set to be China’s next big rocket, figuratively and literally, as it is planned to be 10.6 meters in diameter and over 110 meters tall. A first flight of the launch vehicle is currently expected around 2030.

To facilitate the giant launch vehicle, a massive factory is being established in Wenchang (文昌市), Hainan (海南) province, near its two launch sites to both integrate and manufacture the launch vehicle. The decision to have both of those facilities in the province was dictated by the Long March 9’s size and related transportation costs if it were built elsewhere. Early ground breaking and soil sampling of the construction site began in April.

As part of the process to build the Long March 9’s Wenchang facilities, officially labeled the ‘Joint Workshop Rocket Base Project’, the government of Hainan recently received documents from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China’s Planning and Design Institute (中国航空规划设计研究总院有限公司) outlining their construction plans, contracted by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. Those documents were then made publicly available on the province’s official website2.

The documents, in their several hundred pages, detail basically everything about the first phase of the project with extensive architectural drawings, manufacturing stations, launch vehicle preparations and maintance bays, and general needed commodity supplies. As reported upon groundbreaking, the documents confirmed that the construction site will occupy 101.5 square kilometers (71.8 square kilometers for the factory itself) for a facility that will be 380.5 meters in length, 182.4 meters in width, and up to 119.5 meters in height, while being completed by May 2028.

The smaller half of the facility, standing 35.3 meters tall, is dedicated to the manufacturing of the Long March 9, taking in raw resources and completed engines made elsewhere. Documents detail that the production section is split into four areas, used as follows:

• B1: primary propellant tank and structures production space for turning metals into cylindrical sections and domes.

• B2: additional production space for propellant tanks and structures.

• B3: dedicated to inspecting hardware at various stages of production via X-ray imaging.

• B4: to be used as a four-floor office space with meeting rooms, exhibitions for visitors, on-site computer systems, and production management equipment.

Each of those areas is planned to have soundproofed walls between them and on the outside. B3 will also have 700 millimeter thick walls and a 500 millimeter thick roof for radiation shielding.

Over in the huge section of the site is the Long March 9’s integration and preparation bays, split into 119.5 and 81.3 meter areas. The shorter of those will allow for the rolling in of completed propellant tanks for all three stages, where the second and third stages will be joined and fully outfitted. It will also be used to prepare payload fairings. In the tallest part, first-stage boosters will be equipped with recovery hardware and their many engines. Six bays to install hardware will exist, with access available from just above the floor and platforms at heights of 13.5, 31.5, 55.5, and 79.5 meters. An additional closed-off platform at 100 meters up will be used to show off the Long March 9 to visitors.

Hardware in both parts of the facility cannot be moved by humans due to their immense weight. As such, many cranes are planned to be installed. For integrating the Long March 9 in its bays, there will be two bespoke 51.3 meter span cranes able to handle 650 tons, another two unique 650 ton able cranes with just a 40.4 meter span, and two 65 meter span cranes able to manage 200 tons in its shorter area. In the manufacturing section, there are planned to be eleven cranes with spans up to 58.5 meters while handling 100 tons at most.

Across the remainder of the construction site, there will be testing facilities for equipment and hardware, technical and digital support systems, a new power substation to provide electrical power from the provincial grid, and a commodity supply station to bring in clean water and take away industrial wastewater.

Of course, building the Wenchang facilities will be expensive, with the documents disclosing that cost projections estimate a 2.757 billion Yuan (406.85 million United States Dollars as of June 5th) price tag. Capital to fund the construction is said to have come from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and several provincial government sources in Hainan.

All of the areas detailed by the documents just share information on phase one of the project. A larger plot of land next door is being reserved for the second phase, which is not yet detailed. It will likely expand available space for maintaining flown stages and optimizing preparation processes.

While the documents focused on the launch vehicle’s manufacturing and integration facilities, plans for mission preparation areas disclosed that a fairing sized up to a 15-meter-diameter and 40-meter-long can be supported. Previously, there were no known plans for a fairing that large, only one to be in line with 10.6-meter-wide stages. When illustrated on the Long March 9’s two-stage variant, the 15-meter fairing looks truly massive and would easily make the launch vehicle the tallest made to date. The three-stage version would be even taller if the fairing is being seriously pursued.

A Long March 8 lifted off from Commercial Launch Pad 1 at the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site at 14:34 pm China Standard Time (06:34 am Universal Coordinated Time) on June 5th, carrying a new group of connectivity spacecraft towards a polar orbit.

Spacecraft being launched by the launch vehicle today were for the twelfth overall group of the Qianfan constellation, with these eighteen satellites being produced by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院微小卫星创新研究院). This launch brings Qianfan’s total launched satellite count to 200!

The Qianfan (千帆) mega-constellation, sometimes referred to as SpaceSail, is operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co Ltd (上海垣信卫星科技有限公司), aiming to provide space-based internet connectivity services in China and abroad in places including Brazil, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, and via airlines, as soon as the end of this year. As of December 2025, the deployment aims should have 324 satellites launched in 20261, another 324 in 2027, and 4,000 in 2028 and 2029, followed by 5,000 in 2030, with 15,000 total satellites approved to operate.

Today’s launch of Qianfan satellites is the fifth to take place in the last month, coming after a return of routine deployments. The constellation restarted proper orbital deployments almost two months ago too, after several satellites failed in orbit in 2025.

With the number of satellites in orbit, Shanghai Spacesail Technologies says they have completed the necessary networking for Qianfan to begin supporting automatic identification systems to assist in connecting maritime vessels at sea.

Each Qianfan satellite is believed to weigh 300 kilograms with a ‘flat pack’ design, with a single solar array, to fit as many satellites as possible inside the rocket fairing in two parallel stacks. For maneuvering in orbit, each satellite has an electric hall-effect thruster burning krypton to generate 20 millinewtons of thrust, with a specific impulse of 1,385 seconds.

Upon the successful completion of the launch mission, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology boasted that today’s flight took place just eighteen days after the previous, on May 17th, also with a group of Qianfan satellites. Launch mission preparation processes have been continuously improved and optimized to meet that cadence ahead of a busy year. In March, China Central Television (中国中央电视台) shared that the Long March 8 series of launch vehicles, including the Long March 8 and 8A, is set to fly fifteen times in total this year, for ten more flights over the next six months.

This launch was also managed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Commercial Launch Vehicle Group (中国航天科技集团商业火箭有限公司) on behalf of Shanghai Spacesail Technologies, procuring a suitable launch vehicle for their constellation for the third time.

Today’s launch was the 7th launch of the Long March 8, the 15th launch of the Long March 8 series, and the 649th launch of the Long March launch vehicle series. This was also the 37th launch from China in 2026.

Liftoff video via 垣信卫星 on WeChat.

Launch livestream via ThatSpaceDogeGuy on YouTube.

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Check out the previous Long March 8 series launch

What is the Long March 8?

This section is for those less familiar with China’s Long March series of launch vehicles.

The Long March 8 is poised to be a low Earth orbit workhorse for missions flying from Wenchang, with it being developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. This vehicle utilizes a two-and-a-half-stage design and is fueled by rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen in its first-stage and boosters along with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the second-stage.

The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is currently as follows:

• 8,100 kilograms to low Earth orbit

• 5,000 kilograms to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit

• 2,800 kilograms to geostationary transfer orbit

• 1,500 kilograms to a trans-lunar trajectory

The Long March 8’s boosters and first-stage are powered by YF-100 engines, with two engines on the first stage and one on each of the two boosters, generating a combined thrust of 490 tons at liftoff. The second-stage is equipped with two YF-75 engines which produce 17 tons of thrust.

On the launchpad, the Long March 8 stands at 50.34 meters tall and weighs 356,000 kilograms when fully fuelled. The first-stage has a diameter of 3.35 meters, the two boosters have a diameter of 2.25 meters, while the second-stage has a diameter of 3 meters, and the fairing has a believed diameter of 4.2 meters.

So far the Long March 8 has only flown from the Wenchang Space Launch Site and the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site, on the east coast of Hainan province.

Heading skyward on June 4th at 19:39 pm China Standard Time (11:39 am Universal Coordinated Time) from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, a Long March 6A flew into polar orbit with another group of connectivity satellites.

Those satellites, eighteen in number, were for the Qianfan constellation as its eleventh overall group, being manufactured by commercial space enterprise Genesat (格思航天), its fourth on contract. The launch of those satellites brings the constellation’s total spacecraft count up to 182, jumping back ahead of GuoWang’s (国网) state-backed 168 for the first time in over seven months.

Each Qianfan satellite is believed to weigh 300 kilograms with a ‘flat pack’ design, with a single solar array, to fit as many satellites as possible inside the rocket fairing in two parallel stacks. For maneuvering in orbit, each satellite has an electric hall-effect thruster burning krypton to generate 20 millinewtons of thrust, with a specific impulse of 1,385 seconds.

The Qianfan (千帆) mega-constellation, sometimes referred to as SpaceSail, is operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co Ltd (上海垣信卫星科技有限公司), aiming to provide space-based internet connectivity services in China and abroad in places including Brazil, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, and via airlines, as soon as the end of this year. As of December 2025, the deployment aims should have 324 satellites launched in 20261, another 324 in 2027, and 4,000 in 2028 and 2029, followed by 5,000 in 2030, with 15,000 total satellites approved to operate.

This deployment of Qianfan satellites has come from an acceleration after a return to routine deployments. That has seen three launches within the past month before today.

In a post-launch blog post, the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology shared that preparation efforts have been concentrated and accelerated, regarding testing and placing hardware on the launch pad, to enable this launch mission to take place twenty-four days after the last Long March 6A. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation added that pre-flight work took place around rainy weather conditions, without mentioning if it caused a delay.

Today’s launch was the 24th mission for the Long March 6A, the 268th Long March vehicle from the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, and the 648th launch of the Long March launch vehicle series. This was also the 36th launch from China in 2026.

Liftoff video via 我们的太空 and 垣信卫星 on WeChat.

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Check out the previous Long March 6A launch

What is the Long March 6A?

This section is for those less familiar with China’s Long March series of launch vehicles.

The Long March 6A is the first new-generation launch vehicle in China to utilize a combination of solid and liquid propellants. This vehicle was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology and utilizes a two-and-a-half-stage design, the boosters burn an unspecified solid propellant with the first and second stages burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen.

The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is currently as follows:

• 8,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit

• 4,500 kilograms to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit

The first-stage is powered by two YF-100 engines, generating a combined thrust of approximately 244 tons using rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen. The first-stage is augmented by four solid rocket boosters, each producing 124 tons of thrust from an unspecified solid propellant, resulting in a combined booster thrust of 492 tons. Together, the first-stage and boosters generate a total thrust of 736 tons. The second stage is powered by a single YF-115 engine, producing 18 tons of thrust also burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen.

On the launchpad, the Long March 6A is believed to be up to 52 meters tall, a handful of fairings are available, and weighs 530,000 kilograms when fully fuelled. The first and second stages of the vehicle have a diameter of 3.35 meters while the solid-fuelled boosters have a diameter of 2 meters, the fairing has a diameter of 4.2 meters.

So far, every Long March 6A has launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, in the north of Shanxi province.

Having launched over a year ago, the Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission has been quietly floating through our solar system towards its target, 2016HO3/469219 Kamoʻoalewa.

Updates from the China National Space Administration about how the mission has been few, as part of a strategy to retain public interest through its primary and extended mission. The first item shared about the mission came a little over a week after launch, showing one of the circular solar panels unfurled, followed by stunning images of the Earth and Moon on July 1st. At the halfway point to Kamo’oalewa in October, another image was shared, captured by a videocamera on the end of a robotic arm, presenting the sample return capsule and Earth in the distance during departure.

So far this year, a presentation at the United Nations in February and a press conference in April shared that the Tianwen-2 spacecraft is healthy in deep space.

Beyond official updates, ground stations and observations of radio signals have indicated that the spacecraft continues to regularly communicate with Earth and is possibly preparing to perform an arrival burn. According to a leaked schedule, Tianwen-2 will rendezvous with Kamoʻoalewa around June 7th, starting its descent towards it.

After arrival, the same schedule says that the spacecraft will spend time from July to April 2027 observing and characterizing the asteroid, then collecting between 200 and 1,000 grams of samples via touch-and-go as well as anchor-and-attach methods. Instruments onboard support the Tianwen-2 in surface and subsurface composition analysis, thermal and magnetic measurements, and asteroid environment monitoring.

Those instruments may verify how Kamoʻoalewa developed, the subject of a new China-led research paper, in its present orbit near Earth. Its samples will provide insight into that too.

Once Kamoʻoalewa samples are verified to be secure, Tianwen-2 will depart from the asteroid before the end of April 2027 during a window that will have it fly by Earth. During that flyby, expected to be during November 2027, the sample return capsule will be released to target a landing at a site near the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center used for Shenzhou crew returns. While the capsule is heading through the atmosphere, Tianwen-2 will boost itself to begin its extended mission.

That extended mission will see the spacecraft flying out to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, to primarily focus on asteroid 311P/PanSTARRS before the end of 2034. Operating out there will also double as a test of China’s deep space communications infrastructure ahead of the Tianwen-4 mission to Jupiter. In addition, the primary and extended mission is providing insight into how to approach and survey asteroids, something needed for a deflection test expected to begin in late 2027.

Announced on June 1st, Spark Space (星火空间) detailed that they have completed a ‘Pre-A’ funding round, raising almost 100 million Yuan (14.78 million United States Dollars, as of June 1st), bringing total capital raised by the launch startup to around 200 million Yuan (29.5 million United States Dollars).

Capital for the round came from two entities, Yunze Capital (云泽资本), a private equity firm, and Orbital Chenguang (轨道辰光), an incubator for the space-based data center focused Beijing Astro-Future Institute of Space Technology (北京星辰未来空间技术研究院), which has about 57 billion Yuan (8.4 billion United States Dollars) available in strategic credit. The latter rationalized their investment by citing the uniqueness of Spark Space’s launch vehicle technologies and the long-term potential enabled by them, possibly as a preferred customer.

Speaking of that technology, the capital raised will be used to support the iterative development of the electric-pump-fed cycle Lieyan-2 (烈焰二号) engine, which burns rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen to generate 10 tons of thrust. Production efforts for the Jinhua-1 (进化一号) launch vehicle will also be supported.

In addition, the money will be utilized to fully move into and set up needed equipment within the company’s manufacturing facility in Hefei National High-Tech Industry Development Zone (合肥市新站高新区), which is 10,000 square meters of space. During the year, Spark Space plans to move into neighbouring buildings, expanding its footprint by 20,000 square meters.

The day before announcing a new capital raise, Spark Space shared that they had hosted a delegation led by Zhao Zhenghong (赵正红), Communist Party Secretary of the Working Committee of the Jiuquan Aerospace Industrial Park (酒泉航天产业园), and it’s Executive Deputy Secretary Li Runyuan (李润元). Other members of the delegation were from Jiuquan Commercial Aerospace Development Co Ltd (酒泉商业航天发展有限公司), among more not important enough to be named by the company. Those Jiuquan entities exist to encourage commercial space enterprises to set up operations at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, including using existing launch sites or establishing dedicated facilities.

In their post about the visit, Spark Space said that the Party officials affirmed the development prospects of the electric-pump-fed cycle engines and were ready to support the company to make necessary breakthroughs in flying the engines. The company also stated it is ready to align with Jiuquan’s local space industry to make it a key driver of future growth, hinting at follow-up cooperation for financing and development, possibly meaning they intend to set up launch facilities.

Efforts so far in bringing Jinhua-1 towards flight have seen test firings of the Lieyan-2 engines, first to verify its ignition and shutdown systems, then to begin thorough performance characterization firings. Assisting in accelerating development, Spark Space used fellow launch startup Deep Blue Aerospace’s test stands, allowing those firings to peak near 10 tons of thrust and dethroning a record for the electric-pump-fed cycle previously held by Rocket Lab’s Rutherford. Manufacturing of test propellant tanks and structures has also taken place.

When Jinhua-1 is placed on a launch pad for the first time, set to be in 2027, it is expected to stand 27.5 meters tall, with two stages that are 2.25 meters in diameter. Customers will have the option to place their payloads, up to 1,500 kilograms for low Earth orbit or 1,000 kilograms for sun-synchronous orbit, within either a 2.25-meter or 3.35-meter diameter fairing. At liftoff, the launch vehicle will weigh 72,500 kilograms with nine Lieyan-2 engines on its first-stage producing a combined 90 tons of thrust, while a second-stage will be propelled by a single vacuum-optimized Lieyan-2.

Jinhua-1 is being marketed as a solution for providing low-cost, high-reliability, and rapid response launches, alongside deploying smaller constellation satellites and performing hypersonic testing, in a way similar to Rocket Lab’s Electron.

Debuting from the Long March 12 series’ Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center launch pad, the Long March 12B lifted off at 16:40 pm China Standard Time (08:40 am Universal Coordinated Time) on June 1st, heading towards polar orbit with a group of customer satellites.

Riding atop of the new rocket were two Qianfan satellites as part of the tenth group to-date, having been produced by Genesat (格思航天), a commercial spacecraft manufacturer, and shipped to the launch site around February. Today’s launch brings the constellation’s total spacecraft count up to 164.

The Qianfan (千帆) mega-constellation, sometimes referred to as SpaceSail, is operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co Ltd (上海垣信卫星科技有限公司), aims to provide space-based internet connectivity services in China and abroad in places including Brazil, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, and via airlines, as soon as the end of this year. As of December 2025, the deployment aims should have 324 satellites launched in 20261, another 324 in 2027, and 4,000 in 2028 and 2029, followed by 5,000 in 2030, with 15,000 total satellites approved to operate.

Each Qianfan satellite is believed to weigh 300 kilograms with a ‘flat pack’ design, with a single solar array, to fit as many satellites as possible inside the rocket fairing in two parallel stacks. For maneuvering in orbit, each satellite has an electric hall-effect thruster burning krypton to generate 20 millinewtons of thrust, with a specific impulse of 1,385 seconds.

Following confirmation that the payloads onboard were released into their desired orbit, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Commercial Launch Vehicle Group shared that the debut flight verified all key systems and engineering decisions. Adding as well that the Long March 12B is now China’s most capable single-core rocket, able to lift up to 20,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit, while marketing it towards the building of Earth orbit constellations.

Omitted by the Commercial Launch Vehicle Group, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, owner of the enterprise, and supporting academy’s clarified that despite real appearing grid fins and mockup landing legs being present on the first-stage, no booster recovery trials were performed during the flight, other than to understand effects caused during ascent. Those are expected to take place on later missions, likely after a downrange landing site is established2.

Preparations to perform the debut flight began back in January with a static fire, a few weeks after its liquid methane and liquid oxygen-consuming distance cousin, the Long March 12A, flew. Design work is said to have begun twenty months ago, in September 2024.

In a surprise to many observers not directly informed by the launch vehicles’ operator, was that the Long March 12B flew today, as limited hazard notices and aircraft restrictions were correlated to determine a flight path ahead of launch. A similar incident happened in October 2025 with a Long March 2D.

Today’s launch was the 1st for the partially reusable Long March 12B, the 7th launch of the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology-supported Long March 12 series, and the 647th launch of the Long March launch vehicle series. This was also the 35th launch from China in 2026.

Liftoff footage via 大漠问天 and 我们的太空 on WeChat.

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Check out previous Long March 12 series launches

What is the Long March 12B?

This section is for those less familiar with China’s Long March series of launch vehicles.

The Long March 12B is a two-stage partially reusable launch vehicle operated by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Commercial Launch Vehicle Group Co Ltd (中国航天科技集团商业火箭有限公司), with support from the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. Both stages burn rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen as propellants.

The Long March 12B’s payload capacity is expected to be as follows:

• Up to 20,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit.

• Up to 15,000 kilograms into a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.

Powering the first-stage of the launch vehicle are nine YF-102R engines, each generating 91 tons of thrust, for a total of 819 tons. It’s second-stage is powered by a vacuum-optimized YF-102R engine, generating around 100 tons of thrust.

To facilitate reuse of the first-stage, a set of engines is lit during re-entry, followed by a few being lit again for landing on a drone ship or landing pad. Enabling a soft touchdown are four landing legs at the base of the first-stage booster, while four grid fins at the top control descent during unpowered flight.

The two stages have a diameter of 4.37 meters, and the Long March 12B stands 72 meters tall on its launch pad, with a fairing that is 5.2 meters in diameter and split into two halves.

With current existing facilities, the Long March 12B can perform missions from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and the Wenchang Space Launch Site.

Currently under final preparations at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, the robotic Chang’e 7 mission to the Moon’s south pole will launch in several weeks, landing later in the year. The mission will bring a handful of international instruments alongside the many Chinese ones, with one being the product of joint work between the United States and Hong Kong, the ILO-C astronomical observatory.

Before the mission departs for the Moon, China in Space reached out to Interim Executive Director Elisa Perednia at the Hawai’i-headquartered International Lunar Observatory Association to inquire about how an instrument collaborated on by American, Hong Kong, Chinese, and other global researchers came to be and what it will be up to.

First for readers unfamiliar with the you, what is the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA)?

We are a non-profit based in Hawai’i, USA with the main goal of expanding knowledge of the cosmos through observations conducted from the Moon’s surface. Our missions consist of small instruments which can be used to image the celestial sky and the lunar surface.

What is the importance of the ILO-C instrument you have on Chang’e 7?

Beyond the scientific data that we will gain from the ILO-C payload, the project itself is an incredible effort of cooperation, collaboration and trust among international people that was enabled by ILOA’s Founding Director Steve Durst who worked with Chinese aerospace representatives since the 1980s. His efforts and vision have led ILOA to utilize the opportunity offered by CNSA1/DSEL2 to have our payload land on the Moon for peaceful, inclusive and scientific reasons.

ILO-C is a collaboration with the University of Hong Kong’s Laboratory for Space Research (HKU LSR), how did that come about?

ILOA’s proposal for a small camera was selected to fly on Chang’E-7 before we had any contact with HKU Laboratory for Space Research. Due to certain constraints, ILOA was unable to continue with our original Canadian contractor to provide the ILO-C instrument, but because of ILOA’s desire to fulfill the ILO-C mission and our long-standing relationship with National Astronomical Observatories Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC-CAS), we were introduced to Prof. Quentin Parker and his group at HKU LSR. They were very enthusiastic about our ILO-C mission and offered to partner with us to find an instrument builder in China. We are grateful for their understanding of the situation and their generous support.

And how did that collaboration enable its inclusion on Chang’e 7?

Our partnership with HKU LSR has ensured that the instrument’s production, engineering timelines, and other key details were coordinated in China with the highest care and dedication.

After partnering on the project, how were technical decisions decided between ILOA and with the University of Hong Kong?

We have had many in-person and online meetings between ILOA and HKU LSR, which also included inputs from the international ILO-C science team. Ultimately efforts and suggestions of the HKU LSR and the ILO-C science teams led ILOA to make final decisions for our project. Once the instrument was chosen, the process has been relatively smooth and straightforward thanks to our good partnership with HKU LSR, and the communication from DSEL.

Previously the ILO had access to Chang’e 3’s Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope, has that informed anything about ILO-C?

ILOA benefited from the previous experience with NAOC-CAS and CNSA protocols, scientists and engineers. It also increased our appreciation for China’s lunar landing program and its scientific results.

Chang’e 7 plans to be operating for around eight years on the lunar surface, how long is ILO-C planned to stay nominally active?

The agreement is for the ILO-C instrument to operate on the lunar surface for one lunar day3.

For imaging by ILO-C you have picked a Sony IMX253 sCMOS4 to collect data every three seconds, why?

Our team strategically chose a 3-second cadence because the camera is fixed, therefore a longer exposure will trail star images across more than one pixel. Solar radiation is always an issue, but we have confidence the camera will survive long enough to take some iconic astronomy images from the Moon.

How soon do you expect to start receiving images of the ‘lunar sky’ seen from the South Pole after a successful landing?

We hope to receive the images as soon as possible, but this will be decided by mission control.

Lastly, how does the ILO label the ILO-C in terms of its ‘nationality’ so to say?

The first word in our organization’s name is “International” and this project truly reflects that global commitment. In addition to participants from Hawai’i, USA and China, the initiative also includes people from Thailand and Indonesia, as well as the ILOA Board of Directors based around the world. Thanks to the international payload opportunity provided by CNSA, our ILO-C project is one of the first USA–China lunar cooperation missions.

A Long March 2D lifted off Launch Complex 3 the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 02:07 am China Standard Time on May 31st (18:07 pm Universal Coordinated Time on May 31st), heading for low Earth orbit with a handful of test satellites.

While the number of them was not announced, four Weixing Hulianwang Jishu Shiyan (卫星互联网技术试验卫星), translating to Satellite Internet Technology Experimental Satellite, were onboard based on the near-exact overlapping of hazard zones1 with the previous launch of them via a Long March 2D. Development of one of the satellites has been claimed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Commercial Satellite Co Ltd (中国航天科技集团商业卫星有限公司), and another by the Space Engineering General Department of the Second Academy of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (航天科工二院空间工程总体部)2.

Breakthroughs made with the satellites will be applied to the state-backed GuoWang (国网) mega-constellation. Items being trialled by the satellites include direct-to-device services and coordination between terrestrial and orbital networks.

Today’s launch brings the total number of test satellites launched up to thirty-three, with nine deployed so far this year. Designs of test satellites are not known, but they are probably similar to operational GuoWang spacecraft, which have limited details confirmed.

For this Long March 2D mission, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Commercial Launch Vehicle Group (中国航天科技集团商业火箭有限公司) procured the launch on behalf of the customer, then managed the next steps as a ‘one-stop shop’ for the service.

This launch also had a new 4.2-meter-diameter composite fairing in use for a third time atop of the Long March 2D, undergoing further real-world optimizations. According to the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, those were in preparation processes and testing ahead of integrating payloads.

Launch vehicle pre-flight adaptations for Xichang’s rainy season, which began in recent days, were implemented as well to deal with forecasted humidity.

Today’s launch was the 105th mission for the Long March 2D, the 267th Long March vehicle from the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, and the 646th launch of the Long March launch vehicle series. This was also the 34th launch from China in 2026.

Liftoff footage via 我们的太空 on WeChat.

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What is the Long March 2D?

This section is for those less familiar with China’s Long March series of launch vehicles.

The Long March 2D is also one of the oldest launch vehicles from China, performing missions regularly to low Earth and sun-synchronous orbits by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, as a two-stage version of the Long March 4 vehicles. The two stages of the launch vehicle both burn Dinitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine.

The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is currently as follows:

• 3,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit

• 1,300 kilograms to a sun-synchronous orbit

The first-stage is powered by four YF-21C engines, which generate 302 tons of thrust burning Dinitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine. The second-stage is powered by a single YF-22C engine and four YF-23C verniers that generate 80 tons of thrust while also burning Dinitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine.

On the launch pad, the Long March 2D is 41.05 meters tall and weighs 232,250 kilograms when fully fuelled. The first and second stages have a diameter of 3.35 meters, with the fairing having a diameter of either 3.35, 3.8, 4, or 4.2 meters.

So far, the Long March 2D has flown from all three inland launch sites, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, and the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

To prepare to return to Earth today, Zhang Lu (张陆)1, Wu Fei (武飞)2, and Zhang Hongzhang (张洪章)3 boarded the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft4 to start their day, shutting the hatches to the Tianhe modules’ forward docking port and removing air between them. Once it was confirmed safe to do so, the spacecraft departed from the Tiangong Space Station at 14:44 pm China Standard Time (06:44 am Universal Coordinated Time), starting the three-orbit process of deorbiting.

Two of those were used to lower the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft’s orbit, to gain distance from Tiangong and to align a predetermined reentry path. On the third orbit, the spacecraft’s orbital module was jettisoned, with the engines igniting to bring itself out of orbit, followed by service module separation. The reentry module, with the three taikonauts inside, went through reentry over a dozen minutes, then falling through the atmosphere before the drogue and main parachute deployment for a slow descent. An upright touchdown to the end of the mission occurred at 20:11 pm China Standard Time (12:11 pm Universal Coordinated Time) on May 29th.

Following extraction from the spacecraft, the Shenzhou-21 crew briefly spoke to the media, sharing:

Zhang Lu: “Once again, I’m back home, back to the motherland. The Shenzhou-21 crew was in orbit for seven months, and we couldn’t have done it without the care of our families and our comrades, nor could we have done it without the leaders at all levels and colleagues on the projects. We could not have done it without the support of the motherland and the people. Actually, this is one person’s sea of stars, but a group of people’s loyalty.”

“I have a gift for everyone, actually. On the day of the launch of Shenzhou-21, the ground team gave us an apple to wish us a safe and smooth mission. Our safety is their greatest wish. Tomorrow is May 30th, National Science and Technology Workers Day, so when leaving the space station we brought back an apple to give to all of the sci-tech workers, and to say that you have worked hard. At the same time, we wish our space industry prosperity and for every mission’s safety and success.”

Wu Fei: “Back to Earth, back to the embrace of the motherland. I feel extremely proud and grounded, for this was my first mission. With the trust of our motherland, the guidance of our predecessors, and the joint efforts of the entire crew, allowed me to successfully fulfill the mission. And the mission has also made me even more deeply understand even more the most beautiful views of the country. I would like to take this space mission as motivation to move forward and make my contributions to human spaceflight.”

Zhang Hongzhang: “From the ground laboratory to China’s space station, our great nation helped to enable me to realize my scientific ideals and integrate my space dreams. With the support of the entire team and the assistance of scientific researchers and everyone’s care, we as a crew have completed all of our allocated science research projects. For the first time, small mammals were successfully bred in orbit and the space vegetable garden is also thriving with a great variety of produce. Also, the in-situ research on lithium-ion batteries, new optics, and electrochemistry has yielded valuable scientific data from space.”

“Looking at the Earth, I felt that humanity is an inseparable community with a shared future. Now I’m back on Earth, back in my motherland, I feel incredibly grounded and warm. Going forward, I will carry the abundance of my harvest and continue to make contributions into building China into a space power.”

In a few hours, after initial medical checks, the three taikonauts will be flown to Beijing (北京) for comprehensive post-mission checks and adjustment back to life on Earth. All three crew members spent 210 days onboard the Tiangong Space Station.

While onboard Tiangong for seven months, the longest of a Shenzhou mission to thanks to extra supplies delivered by Shenzhou-225, Zhang, Wu, and Zhang have participated in medical experiments, enabled research into brain function, supported the development of new battery technologies, as well as observing how small mammals adapt and breed in space. Alongside that, Zhang Lu and Wu Fei performed three spacewalks, spending about twenty and a half hours outside, to install space debris protection devices. The crew also kicked off the space station’s fifth art exhibition in April.

Ahead of their departure from Tiangong, the Shenzhou-21 trio welcomed Shenzhou-23’s Zhu Yangzhu (朱杨柱)6, Li Jiaying (黎家盈)7, and Zhang Zhiyuan (张志远)8 on May 25th, after a launch hours prior. The two crews spent about three days working with each other, with the new trio primarily tasked with adapting to microgravity and performing monitoring experiments related to it. On May 28th, Shenzhou-23’s taikonauts were symbolically handed the keys to the space station and had responsibility for it signed over to them.

Over the next six months, the new crew is expected to support experiments in areas like pace life sciences, material sciences, fluid behaviour in microgravity, space medicine, and new technology verification. Some known ones, of the stated over one hundred, include observations of embryos of zebrafish, mice, and stem cell-derived artificial human ones, testing of crop seeds, biocatalytic materials, microbial samples, as well as experimental lunar fibers and thin, flexible solar cells. Two of the taikonauts will also venture outside at least once to install a greenhouse gas monitoring instrument from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (香港科技大学).

Additionally, one member of the Shenzhou-23 crew is remaining onboard Tiangong for the next twelve months, for the first full year stay in space by a taikonaut, as part of extensive research into human health in microgravity. That stay is also enabling a brief visit by a Pakistani astronaut toward the end of the year.

Since August 2024, China has been seriously deploying two space-based connectivity mega-constellations into low Earth orbit, known as GuoWang (国网), managed by the state-owned China Satellite Network Group (中国卫星网络集团有限公司), and Qianfan (千帆), formulated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co Ltd (上海垣信卫星科技有限公司), to connect the countries remote regions, bring faster services to those with limited options, and to get ahead of the finalization and rollout of new mobile connection standards.

In building those constellations, satellites have taken dozens of rides atop of existing launch vehicles in the nation’s Long March series. For that, the following number of launch missions have placed the stated satellite counts (not including test spacecraft) into orbit:

• Qianfan: 9 launches for 162 satellites, in groups of 18 each mission. (from August 2024, or over 22 months1).

• GuoWang: 21 launches for 168 satellites, in groups of 5, 9, or 10 for a mission (from December 2024, or over 18 months2).

For deploying the two constellations, the Long March 8 series has been dedicated to both since February 2025, and the Long March 12 has been focused on GuoWang from August 2025. While having dedicated rides into space, Qianfan and GuoWang have been hitching rides atop of the Long March 6A, to support building its flight cadence alongside other payloads. GuoWang has also had some of its orbital shells filled by the Long March 5 series too.

The majority of the launches being performed to deploy GuoWang satellites is a result of Qianfan satellites stranding themselves in orbit not long after deployment, which required prepared missions to be halted and shipped back to factories for fixes, followed by a return to space after a seven-month gap. Routine deployments resumed in April, picking up momentum in May.

While Qianfan was stuck on the ground and GuoWang utilized a larger number of available launches, the Western press wrote in mid-2025 that both constellations were failing to meet filed-for satellite counts, in comparison to SpaceX’s Starlink. Despite the claim, the two constellations had, by then, scaled faster than other service-equivalent constellations.

However, the idea of whether the constellations are slow in deployments opens up an interesting question: could their satellites be deployed faster?

Considering the structure of their operators and the designs of GuoWang and Qianfan3, the other effort with the best similarity is that of Amazon Leo, as the U.S. tech giant does not own a launch company, like China Satellite Network Group and Shanghai Spacesail Technologies, but has placed significant capital and effort into putting spacecraft in orbit. That has resulted in 11 launches to bring 302 satellites into low Earth orbit since April 2025 (or over 13 months4).

Deploying that number of satellites, under the combined total for Qianfan and GuoWang with a third of the needed launches, has been enabled by Amazon establishing dedicated integration facilities, solely for its constellation5, in Florida next door to three of its launch providers. Providers chosen for launch are the well-established giants United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, SpaceX, and recently orbital Blue Origin. As of writing on May 26th, deployments have occurred with the first three companies, releasing satellites in groups of 24, 27, 29, or 32, all larger than previous ones for China’s constellations.

In comparison, Qianfan and GuoWang are at present only trusting state-owned launch solutions6, from three distantly separated launch sites7, under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, who have other customers they need to fulfill missions for, including government and military ones. Additionally, they are also quite decentralized on the satellite side, with both contracting out the manufacturing of spacecraft groups, leaning on China’s proven spacecraft supply chain to save costs.

Looking to the near future, Qianfan deployments are set to continue the momentum of deployments established in recent weeks, with at least a Long March 8 series and Long March 6A flights in early June. The coming months should also see the fulfillment of demonstration contracts, carrying 10 to 18 satellites, ahead of routine ones within the commercial space sector. Enterprises enlisted for that include CAS Space with Kinetica-2, Space Pioneer with Tianlong-3, alongside LandSpace with Zhuque-2E and Zhuque-3.

Near-future GuoWang deployments are harder to read, as the usual lack of known contracts and statements from China Satellite Network Group makes it difficult. Luckily, the state-backed constellation has had no observed issues in orbit to slow them down.

Efforts in establishing Qianfan and GuoWang in orbit may appear slow to date, but as Chinese launch providers, state-backed and commercial, continue to fly into orbit at a much greater rate each month and year on year, opportunities to expand satellite counts will become greater too. The ability to do so will also be supercharged by spacecraft factories being set up next to launch sites, able to produce satellites for both efforts.

Should they be deployed faster?

As great as it is to bring alternative space-based connectivity online from multiple entities across several states, placing them into orbit sustainably is even better. In an effort to bring Qianfan and GuoWang towards general operation so far, several second-stages have been found loitering in low Earth orbit following the conclusion of their launch missions.

In the May 18th 2026 issue of the Integrity Flash, it was reported that, since deployments began, over thirty second-stages are still residing in orbit following their deployment tasks, most of those being of the Long March 6A. Those stages have been tracked to fly up to 900 kilometers before bringing themselves down to about 650 kilometers. Second-stages have been left there because the two mega-constellations’ satellites operational altitudes above 1,000-kilometers, and bringing them as close as a launch vehicle can in early deployment plans saves fuel and increases their longevity, while the stages can just about bring themselves away.

Jim Shell, a former U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. and now space consultant, also noted on May 26th that with second-stages remaining in orbit, China is leaving a large amount of mass and total launch vehicle objects in the low Earth orbit region, trailing Russia and the United States.

However, in deploying satellites at that altitude, Qianfan and GuoWang have so far avoided supposed ‘risky calls’ with Starlink, unlike Amazon Leo. That resulted in a series of back-and-forth complaints via regulators for deployments atop of Arianespace’s Ariane 6 and SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Starlink is the only constellation to have always released its satellites in very low orbits, thanks to SpaceX’s unique ownership of both an affordable launch vehicle and the mega-constellation.

In good news for the sustainability of deployments, as part of a regulatory overhaul, China updated its regulations for commercial space enterprises, legally binding them to deorbit stages once they have completed their tasks, including previously mentioned launches for constellation satellites. At state-owned enterprises, they continue to follow United Nations guidelines, outlined by the solving of second-stage fragmentation events, while better standards are discussed by regulators, likely to be similar to those for commercial entities once implemented.

In a significant update regarding the development of the partially reusable Pallas-1, Galactic Energy shared on May 26th that the launch vehicle is at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, and that the launch pad to support it is complete.

New facilities at Jiuquan include, of course, the launch pad, Pallas-1’s transporter-erector, two massive lightning diversion towers, rocket-grade kerosene, liquid oxygen, and gaseous pressurization pipelines to load the launch vehicle. Away from the pad, there is a horizontal vehicle integration building for Pallas-1 and payloads, as well as a local control office for resolving issues on site and hosting visitors before a launch. Those facilities are part of a ‘Phase One’ plan for operations at Jiuquan, with the company writing:

“With the official completion of Launch Pad Phase One, Galactic Energy has taken a solid step forward in infrastructure development, providing robust support for the high‑frequency, large‑scale launch of liquid‑propellant rockets and laying a firm foundation for the development and operation of the Pallas‑1 and subsequent rocket systems.”

If there are any problems with this translation please reach out and correct me.

Next door to Pallas-1’s facilities, there is also a blank concrete pad, visible to satellite imagery but not mentioned by Galactic Energy, likely to support operations of the company’s solid propellant Ceres-1 and Ceres-2 launch vehicles, which currently flies from Launch Site 95 alongside its competitors, decreasing flexibility.

It’s unclear when Pallas-1 arrived in Jiuquan, as at the very end of 2025, the first complete launch vehicle was preparing to be shipped out while work on the launch pad continued. Whenever it occurred, shipping of the vehicle probably took a few days by truck, as did the transportation of Space Pioneer’s Tianlong-3 and LandSpace’s Zhuque-3.

In previous efforts to bring Pallas-1 towards its debut flight, a second-stage static fire took place in September 2025 to verify its expected engine performance in flight. Then in November 2025, the first-stage arrived in Haiyang (海阳市), Shandong (山东) province, for its pre-debut flight static fire, lighting its seven CQ-50 engines for a comprehensive test that included coordinated throttling of thrust levels up to 350 tons and gimbaling.

Between those static fires, Galactic Energy said they have made good progress on reusable rocket hardware, such as grid fins and landing legs. However, that hardware is not expected to be included on initial Pallas-1 flights.

Despite now being at Jiuquan, Galactic Energy has remained tight-lipped about when Pallas-1 will fly for the first time. Since the end of last year, the company has only vaguely said it will occur in the ‘near future’. Before that, it was expected that a launch would occur before the Spring Festival (春节) in mid-February, which obviously did not happen.

When Pallas-1 is ready to fly, it will stand about 42 meters tall, with its two 3.35-meter-diameter stages loaded with rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen to have it weigh about 283,000 kilograms. It remains to be seen if customers will utilize the up to 8,000 kilograms of payload capacity on the launch vehicle’s first outing.

Upon flying, Pallas-1 will join a handful of reusable launch solutions1 that are operational in China. Launch vehicles that have done so to date are LandSpace’s Zhuque-3, the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology’s Long March 12A, CAS Space’s Kinetica-2, and Space Pioneer’s Tianlong-3. The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology’s Long March 10A and Long March 10B2, as well as the China Aerospace Science and Technology Commercial Launch Vehicle Group’s Long March 12B, are also near flying for the first time too.

A Long March 7A lifted off from Launch Complex 201 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site at 00:16 am China Standard Time on May 27th (16:16 pm Universal Coordinated Time on May 26th), sending a single satellite towards geostationary space.

Being launched today was the TJSW-24 (通信技术试验卫星二十四号) spacecraft, developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. Like others in its series, TJSW-24 is tasked with verifying multi-band, high-throughput communications technologies for radio, television, and data transmission.

TJSW-24 is the first satellite of its series to be launched in just over six months. A doubling of the TJSW fleet occurred in 2025 with nine satellites being delivered towards geostationary space, residing in space over central Africa to the eastern edge of the Pacific.

This Long March 7A mission was the first to be prepared in a new dual-bay vehicle assembly building, which had work begun at the start of 2025, and prepared atop of a second Long March 7 series mobile launch platform, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. With the new building and platform, testing equipment for the launch vehicle in Wenchang has also doubled, allowing for a greater launch cadence.

In 2025 the Long March 7 series flew six times, this year the Launch Vehicle Academy is hoping to perform twelve missions, with two so far with today’s and Tianzhou-10. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation also expects the Long March 7A to meet the demands of satellites looking for a ride into geostationary space.

Today’s mission was the 15th launch of a Long March 7A vehicle, the 26th launch of the Long March 7 series, and the 645th launch of the Long March launch vehicle series. This was also the 33rd launch from China in 2026.

Liftoff video via ThatSpaceDogeGuy on YouTube.

Launch livestream via ThatSpaceDogeGuy on YouTube.

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What is the Long March 7A?

This section is for those less familiar with China’s Long March series of launch vehicles.

The Long March 7A is the new-generation workhorse for beyond low Earth orbit missions, and was developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. This vehicle utilizes a three-and-a-half-stage design and is fuelled by rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen in its boosters, first, and second stages long with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the third-stage.

The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is currently as follows:

• 8,000+ kilograms to a medium Earth transfer orbit

• 7,000 kilograms to geostationary transfer orbit

• 5,500 kilograms to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit

• 5,000 kilograms to a trans-lunar trajectory

The Long March 7A’s first stage is equipped with two YF-100 engines that produce 245 tons of thrust using rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen, complemented by four boosters, each with a YF-100 engine generating 122 tons of thrust, resulting in a combined thrust of approximately 733 tons. The second stage is powered by four YF-115 engines, which together generate 72 tons of thrust using the same fuel combination. The third stage of the Long March 7A features two YF-75 engines, providing 17 tons of thrust by burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.

On the launchpad, the Long March 7A stands at 60.13 meters tall and weighs 573,000 kilograms when fully fuelled. The first and second-stage have a diameter of 3.35 meters, the four boosters are 2.25 meters in diameter, and the third-stage has a diameter of 3 meters, while the fairing has a diameter of 4.2 meters.

So far the Long March 7A has only flown from the Wenchang Space Launch Site, on the east coast of Hainan province.