Tag: Guowang

China launches more satellites in its Guowang satellite constellation

8:57 am

China today successfully placed the 19th group of Guowang (SatNet) satellites into orbit, its Long March 12 rocket lifting off from its coastal Wencheng spaceport.

The lower stages of the rocket fell in the territorial waters of the Philippines, forcing that government to issue a warning to its citizens.

Previously I had read reports claiming Guowang was an internet-of-things constellation aiming to 13,000 satellites eventually. That was incorrect. This constellation is comparable to Starlink, providing internet access globally. Before today’s launch there were 137 Guowang satellites in orbit. China’s state-run press provided no information about the number of Guowang satellites launched today. All previous launches using the Long March 12 placed nine in orbit, which would bring the total in orbit to 146. According to the article at the link, however, the constellation now has 150 in orbit.

The 2026 launch race:

8 SpaceX
5 China

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China launches twice from today different spaceports

5:02 pm

China finally entered the 2026 launch race today with two launches from two of its spaceports.

First, it placed a classified remote sensing satellite into orbit, its Long March 6A rocket lifting off from its Taiyuan spaceport in northeast China.

No word on where the rocket’S lower stages, using very toxic hypergolic fuels, crashed inside China.

About an hour later it launched the 18th group of Guowang (also Satnet) satellites into orbit, its Long March 8A lifting off from its coastal Wenchang spaceport in south China.

Though the lower stages of this rocket fell in the ocean, they did so in the territorial waters of the Philippines, forcing its government to issue a warning to its citizens.

Though China’s state-run press provided no information about the number of Guowang satellites launched, all previous launches using the Long March 8A placed nine in orbit. Based on this guess, this internet-of-things constellation now has 137 satellites in orbit out of a planned 13,000.

The 2026 launch race:

5 SpaceX
2 China

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China launches nine more Guowang internet-of-things satellites

8:56 pm

China today successfully launched another nine internet-of-things satellites for the Guowang (or SatNet) constellation, its Long March 12 rocket lifting off from its coastal Wenchang spaceport.

China’s state-run press did not reveal the number of satellites, but the previous three Long March 12 launches that carried Guowang satellites all launched nine, so I think it is safe to assume nine launched today as well. This was the sixteenth launch for this constellation, which now has about 119 satellites in orbit, with a planned 13,000 once complete.

The Long March 12 is expendable. Though the launch proceeded over the ocean, one drop zone for the rocket’s lower stages was in the Philippines, where authorities warned its citizens to avoid those zones and to exercise caution if they see any likely rocket debris.

An upgraded version, the Long March 12A, with a first stage designed to land vertically and be reused, is scheduled to launch sometime in the next two weeks.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

164 SpaceX
82 China (a new record)
15 Rocket Lab
15 Russia

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 164 to 134.

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China completed two launches today

11:42 pm

China today completed two launches from two different spaceports, one a pseudo-commercial launch and the other a classified military payload.

First China launched the fifteenth set of satellites in the Guowang or SatNet internet-of-things satellite constellation, its Long March 6A rocket lifting off from its Taiyuan spaceport in north China. According to China’s state-run press, this brings the total number of Guowang satellites in orbit to about 110, fewer than I had previously estimated. The final plan calls for a constellation of 13,000.

The second launch took place on December 9th (in China), with a Long March 4B rocket lifting off from China’s Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China, placing a classified satellite into orbit.

With both launches, China’s state-run press provided no information about where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China. This is especially critical with the Long March 4B, which uses very toxic hypergolic fuels that can dissolve your skin.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

161 SpaceX
79 China (a new record)
15 Rocket Lab
15 Russia

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 161 to 131.

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SpaceX launches 29 more Starlink satellites, sets new record for Falcon 9 reuse, dominates the world in rocketry

5:07 pm

First stage after landing for the 32nd time
First stage after landing for the 32nd time

SpaceX today launched another 29 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket (B1067) flew for its 32nd time, a new record for a Falcon 9 first stage. As shown in the rankings below of the most reused launch vehicles, this stage is now just one flight from tying the space shuttle Atlantis:

39 Discovery space shuttle
33 Atlantis space shuttle
32 Falcon 9 booster B1067
30 Falcon 9 booster B1071
29 Falcon 9 booster B1063
28 Falcon 9 booster B1069
28 Columbia space shuttle

Sources here and here.

Nor will it be long before SpaceX’s fleet surpasses all the shuttles.

Meanwhile in the 2025 launch race SpaceX’s dominance is overwhelming, as shown by the leader board:
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China launches another set of Guowang satellites

9:18 am

China today successfully launched the 14th set of the Guowang internet of things satellites (also called SatNet), its Long March 8A rocket lifting off from its coastal Wenchang spaceport.

China’s state-run press made no mention of the number of satellites launched. Based on previous launches by the Long March 8A, it was probably nine, bringing the total number of Guowang satellites in orbit to about 114, after fourteen launches. The final plan calls for a constellation of 13,000. Should take awhile to complete.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

159 SpaceX
77 China (a new record)
15 Rocket Lab
15 Russia

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 159 to 129.

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Three launches since yesterday

9:15 am

The beat goes on. Since yesterday there were three launches, one by China and two by SpaceX.

First, China’s Long March 8A rocket placed the twelfth set of satellites in the Guowang internet constellation, eventually aiming to be 13,000 satellites strong. China’s state-run press did not specify the exact number of satellites. Based on previous launches using the Long March 8A, the number was likely nine, bringing the number of this constellation’s satellites now in orbit to 96.

The launch was from China’s coastal Wenchang spaceport, and had a flight path that dumped the lower stages of the rocket near islands in the Philippines.

Next, SpaceX placed 21 satellites into orbit for the Pentagon, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California. This was the second launched by SpaceX for this military communication constellation, dubbed Tranche-1, intended to be 158 satellites total. The first stage completed its seventh flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific. The fairing halves completed their third and fourth flights respectively.

Finally, SpaceX launched another 28 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The first stage completed its third flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

133 SpaceX
61 China
13 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 133 to 102.

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China completes two launches

2:01 pm

Since yesterday China successfully completed two launches from two of its interior spaceports.

First, it successfully launched what its state-run press described as a satellite that will “primarily support monitoring and research activities in weather forecasting, atmospheric chemistry and climate change”, its Long March 4C rocket lifting off yesterday from its Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China.

Then today China’s Long March 6A lifted off from its Taiyuan spaceport in north China, placing in orbit the eleventh set of satellites in the Guowang internet constellation, eventually aiming to be 13,000 satellites strong. China’s state-run press did not specify the exact number of satellites. Based on previous launches using the Long March 6A, the number was likely five, bringing the number of this constellation’s satellites now in orbit to 87.

No word on where the the lower stages of both rockets crashed inside China. This is even more critical with the Long March 4C, since it uses very toxic hypergolic fuels that can dissolve your skin if it touches you.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

125 SpaceX
57 China
13 Russia
12 Rocket Lab

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 125 to 97.

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China completes two launches today

2:10 pm

China today completed two launches using two different rockets from two different spaceports.

First, its Long March 4C rocket lifted off from its Xichang spaceport in southwest China, placing what its state-run press described as a satellite designed to do “space environment exploration and related technology tests,” No other information was released.

Next, its Long March 6A rocket lifted off from its Taiyuan spaceport in north China, placing the ninth set of Guowang satellites into orbit for a planned 13,000 constellation designed to compete with Starlink and Kuiper. This launch placed five satellites into orbit, bringing the total launched so far to 72.

In both cases, no word was released on where the rockets’ lower stages crashed inside China. This is especially significant for the Long March 4C rocket, which uses very toxic hypergolic fuels and lifted off from a spaceport much more inland than the Long March 6A.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

100 SpaceX
46 China
11 Rocket Lab
9 Russia

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 100 to 79.

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China completes eighth launch of its Guowang internet satellite constellation

9:53 am

China yesterday successfully placed 10 more Guowang satellites into orbit, its Long March 5b rocket lifting off from its coastal Wenchang spaceport.

The Guowang constellation, also called Satnet, will eventually have 13,000 satellites in orbit, providing services comparable to Starlink and Kuiper. At present it has completed eight launches since December 2024, placing 67 satellites into orbit.

Because the Long March 5B, China’s most powerful rocket at present, used a new more powerful upper stage, its core stage did not reach orbit, and thus fell harmlessly into the ocean soon after launch.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

98 SpaceX (with another Starlink launch scheduled for later today)
44 China
11 Rocket Lab
9 Russia

SpaceX still leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 98 to 77.

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Another two launches by SpaceX and China

10:01 am

There were two more launches last night and today. First, SpaceX put another 24 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California. The first stage completed its 19th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

Next, China today successfully launched another five satellites in its planned Guiwang (“king”) internet constellation of 13,000 satellites, its Long March 6 rocket lifting off from its Taiyuan spaceport in northern China. No word on where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China.

This launch brought the total number of operational satellites in orbit for this constellation to 39, all launched since December 2024. At this pace it will take many years for China to complete this constellation, though it likely can begin selling the service in China with an incomplete constellation. Its international licence requires it to launch 10% by 2029 and 50% by 2032.

The leaders in the 2025 launch race:

93 SpaceX
38 China
10 Rocket Lab
9 Russia

SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 93 to 67.

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China launches first set of satellites for planned internet megaconstellations

9:42 am

China today successfully launched an unknown number of satellites in the first launch of one of its planned internet megaconstellations designed to compete with Starlink, its Long March 5B rocket lifting off from its coastal Wenchang spaceport.

Not revealing the number of satellites launched is probably a violation of the Outer Space Treaty, which requires each signatory to inform others of its launches and at a minimum the number of objects placed in orbit. This constellation, dubbed Guowang, is hoping to launch as many as 13,000 satellites, and that will require some coordination to prevent it from interfering with the constellations launched by others. Not revealing the size of this satellite group makes such coordination impossible.

In a bit of good news, it appears China has solved the problem of its Long March 5B rocket, which in the past had used its core stage to place objects in orbit. After payload deployment that core stage would be in an unstable an orbit that would quickly decay, allowing the stage to crash uncontrolled, thus threatening habitable areas worldwide. The rocket’s new upper stage now takes the payloads into orbit, so the core stage can drop off sooner and fall into the ocean harmlessly.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

129 SpaceX
61 China
16 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise still leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 148 to 93, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 129 to 112.

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China creates company to build mega-satellite constellation

9:12 am

The new colonial movement: Late last month China officially created a company to build its own mega-satellite constellation, consisting of 13,000 satellites to provide internet access globally, to compete with the commercial constellations being built by SpaceX, OneWeb, and (someday) Amazon.

Spectrum allocation filings submitted to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) by China in September last year revealed plans to construct two similarly named “GW” [Guowang] low Earth orbit constellations totaling 12,992 satellites. The filings indicate plans for GW to consist of sub-constellations ranging from 500-1,145 kilometers in altitude with inclinations between 30-85 degrees. The satellites would operate across a range of frequency bands.

Currently no details have been released on the contractors to be involved in the constellation. Notably the China Satellite Network Group will exist independent from and parallel to China’s main space contractors, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), and the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).

The apparent independence of China Satellite Network Group from CASC and CASIC indicates that other actors, such as other state-owned enterprises and commercial sector space companies could be involved in the construction of the constellation.

Not only does the creation of this company suggest a power-struggle within China’s government, it illustrates the intensifying competition internationally over space. While commercial satellite constellations like SpaceX and OneWeb will be able to provide their services to China, they will also be outside the control of that nation’s dictatorship. If their citizens use them they will have free access to information, something that China’s leaders refuse to allow.

Thus, the political decision in China to build their own constellation. It will also give China the ability to exert its influence worldwide by offering an alternative to the commercial western constellations, one that other dictators can control as well.

Expect more whining from astronomers about how this constellation of satellites will add to their woes. Instead of whining, might they finally decide to at last consider building in-space telescopes, where there is no atmosphere to fog their view and no satellites blocking their vision?

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