China boosts broadband, IoT and weather satellite fleets with flurry of launches

SYDNEY, Australia — A flurry of launch activity has seen China add to an Internet of Things constellation, loft new broadband satellites and boost its weather satellite fleet.

A Long March 6A lifted off at 8:40 a.m. Eastern (1240 UTC) Sept. 27 from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced launch success around two hours after liftoff, revealing the mission payloads to be the 11th batch of Guowang broadband megaconstellation project.

Guowang is planned to consist of nearly 13,000 satellites in low Earth orbit and is part of China’s response to Starlink, both commercially and strategically. Guowang has a near-term target of having 400 satellites in orbit by 2027. Long March 6A missions usually carry five Guowang satellites. If confirmed, the latest launch would raise the constellation to 86 satellites.

Launches for the project have accelerated in recent times, with seven of the launches taking place within the past two months, starting July 27.

Fengyun-3H weather satellite

The Long March 6A launch came less than a day after China added to its Fengyun series of meteorological satellites. A Long March 4C rocket lifted off at 19:23 p.m. Eastern (2323 UTC) Sept. 26 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, northwest China. 

CASC’s Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) declared the launch a complete success. Fenyun-3H is a second-generation polar orbit weather satellite.

Information published by the World Meteorological Organization reveals that the satellite has a mass of 2,300 kilograms and carries nine instruments for meteorology, ocean and ice monitoring, climate monitoring, atmospheric chemistry and space weather.

Geesatcom phase one complete

Days earlier a Jielong-3 solid rocket lifted off at 3:56 a.m. Eastern (0756 UTC) Sept. 24 from the Dongfang Hangtiangang mobile sea launch platform in the Yellow Sea, off the coast of the eastern province of Shandong.

Aboard were 12 satellites for the Geesatcom constellation; an IoT project for Geespace, the space arm of automaker Geely, based in Hangzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang. 

The mission was the third of a trio of Jielong-3 sea launches booked for Geesatcom launched across August and September. The launch completed the 64-satellite first phase of the Geesatcom IoT constellation, providing low-bandwidth connectivity for devices across a number of countries and regions. The company has also earlier stated it wants to provide broadband connectivity with a 5,000-plus satellite constellation, as well as enhanced precision navigation signals for applications such as autonomous driving.

Geespace earlier this month secured $281 million investment for its constellation plans and for the construction of a global headquarters for the venture. 

Satellite Internet test sats

The trio of recent launches followed a Long March 2C launch using a Yuanzheng-1S upper stage Sept. 15 from Jiuquan. That mission lifted off at 9:06 p.m. Sept. 15 (0106 UTC Sept. 16) and carried four satellite Internet technology test satellites, possibly related to the national Guowang broadband megaconstellation project. The satellites entered circular, roughly 800-km-altitude orbits inclined by 50 degrees.

The mission involved participation both from SAST and commercial satellite firms GalaxySpace and Minospace, according to their respective social media channels. The satellites could be testing new payloads, potentially including direct-to-device services, an area China has recently moved to support through new policy measures.

Overall launch activity

The launches took Chinese activity to 58 orbital launch attempts in 2025, meaning the country is closing in on a new national record for launches in a calendar year (currently 68, set in 2024). Of the launches, 56 have been successful, with the only failure coming in August with the loss of a Zhuque-2E rocket from commercial outfit Landspace. Despite the loss of the mission, Landspace is preparing for a flight test of the much larger, reusable Zhuque-3 from Jiuquan. 

The next launch out of China is expected to be a Long March 2D rocket launching from Jiuquan early Sept. 29 UTC with an unknown payload.