China Long March 6A Launch of Qianfan Mega-constellation Satellites

China Long March 6A Launch of Qianfan Mega-constellation Satellites

A China Long March 6A rocket blasted off from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi province at 17:30 pm China Standard Time (09:30 am Universal Coordinated Time) on July 4, 2026. Eighteen more space-based Internet connectivity satellites were successfully placed into a near-polar orbit to expand the constellation ahead of the start of consumer services.

Those were the thirteenth overall group of the Qianfan constellation, consisting of eighteen satellites manufactured by Genesat for the fifth contract with the commercial space firm. With this deployment, Qianfan now has 218 satellites in orbit.

The Qianfan mega-constellation, sometimes referred to as SpaceSail, is operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co. Ltd.. It aims to provide space-based Internet connectivity services in China and abroad in places including Brazil, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, and via airlines, around the fourth quarter of this year. As of December 2025, the deployment aims to have 324 satellites launched in 2026.

Costing under 10 million Yuan (~1.47 million USD, as of July 4th), each Qianfan satellite weighs 300 kilograms with a ‘flat pack’ design using a single solar array to fit as many satellites as possible inside the rocket fairing within 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.

Today’s launch was the 25th mission for the Long March 6A, the 271st Long March vehicle from the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), and the 655th launch of the Long March launch vehicle series. This was also the 46th launch from China in 2026.

Video Credit: SAST
Text Credit: Jack C.
Duration: 31 seconds
Date: July 4, 2026

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