China continued its ambitious space program with the launch of 18 more satellites for its Thousand Sails megaconstellation. A Long March 6A rocket successfully deployed the payloads into polar orbits on December 4th, 2024, at 11:41 p.m. Eastern Time (0441 UTC, December 5th), from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) confirmed the successful deployment.
These 18 flat panel satellites, developed by the Shanghai Microsatellite Engineering Center, represent the first generation of Thousand Sails satellites. The project, spearheaded by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), also known as Qianfan and G60 Starlink, aims for global service provision by 2025, with a planned constellation of 14,000 satellites and approximately 600 in orbit by the end of 2025. SSST secured significant funding, approximately $943 million, earlier in 2024, and recently signed an agreement with Brazil to provide services starting in 2026.
The Long March 6A rocket, notable for its unique design combining liquid and solid propellant stages, has a payload capacity of 4,500 kilograms to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. However, previous launches have raised concerns about upper stage fragmentation, with the first Thousand Sails launch creating over 700 pieces of orbital debris. While SAST hasn't commented on this, all 36 previously launched satellites have been cataloged by the U.S. Space Force.
Concerns remain about the potential impact of the Qianfan satellites' brightness on astronomical observations. This launch was China's 62nd orbital launch attempt of 2024, following a flurry of activity since November 27th. China aims to surpass its 2023 record of 67 launches, targeting approximately 100 launches throughout 2024.