China continues its intensive pace of orbital launches, recently adding new satellites to the Thousand Sails constellation. A Long March 6A rocket successfully launched at 3:08 a.m. Eastern, Friday, Oct. 17 (0708 UTC) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, located in north China. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed the success, identifying the payloads as Polar Group 18, destined for the Thousand Sails megaconstellation.
These flat panel satellites will contribute to the low Earth orbit internet services provided by the constellation. Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), also known as Spacesail, leads the project, sometimes referred to as Qianfan or G60 Starlink. The number of satellites launched on this particular mission was not explicitly specified, but previous launches for the project have involved 18 satellites, including four prior Long March 6A launches. The satellites for this mission were supplied by the Shanghai Engineering Center for Microsatellites (SECM), also known as Microsat.
The Long March 6A, utilizing a kerosene-liquid oxygen propellant core stage alongside solid propellant side boosters, can deliver 4,500 kilograms of payload to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. This marks the sixth launch for Thousand Sails, following its inaugural launch in August 2024, and the first since March. According to space activity tracker Jonathan McDowell, while there are now 108 Thousand Sails satellites in orbit, 14 satellites from earlier launches have encountered issues raising their orbits and are currently decaying. This includes 10 satellites from the second launch.
CASC’s China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) facilitated the launch for Spacesail. CGWIC is authorized by the Chinese government to offer satellites, commercial launch services, and international space cooperation. Spacesail has awarded contracts for the launch of four batches of 10 satellites and three batches of 18 satellites, totaling 94 satellites, according to Chinese media reports. This marks the first involvement of commercial launch service providers in the project. Landspace, Space Pioneer, and CAS Space secured these contracts and are expected to use their new Zhuque-3, Tianlong-3, and Kinetica-2 launchers, all slated for test flights before the end of the year. The total value of these launches is $187 million. An earlier tender process this year was unsuccessful due to a lack of bidders.
Following the Thousand Sails launch, a commercial launch took place late Saturday Eastern. A CAS Space Kinetica-1 (Lijian-1) solid rocket launched at 11:33 p.m. Oct. 18 (0333 UTC, Oct. 19) from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Area at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. CAS Space announced the successful deployment of the hyperspectral Pakistan remote sensing satellite (PRSS-2-HS1) and the AIRSAT 03 and 04 satellites. The AIRSAT satellites are for Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (AIRCAS) and aim to create a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation.
The payload fairing indicates the involvement of Microsat and TerraX of Malaysia. This was the ninth flight of the Kinetica-1 and the eighth successful flight. “Mission Y8” marks the delivery of 73 payloads and over nine metric tons of payload to orbit by Kinetica-1. The Kinetica-1 has a take-off weight of 135 tons and can carry 1,500 kilograms of payload into a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It uses SP70 solid rocket motors from CASC.
These launches represent China's 63rd and 64th of the year, approaching its national record of 68 launches in a calendar year, set in 2024. These follow the 12th launch for the Guowang megaconstellation on Oct. 16 (UTC), which also marked the 600th Long March rocket launch. A Long March 5 launch is anticipated from Wenchang spaceport early eastern Oct. 22, followed by a Long March 3B launch around Oct. 26 from Xichang. The Shenzhou-21 crewed mission to the Tiangong space station is also expected before the end of the month. China is expected to carry out further tests for its crewed lunar program before the end of the year, while a number of commercial launch companies are racing to debut their new, larger launch vehicles.