China's mega-constellations mega-article
Tracking China's five mega-constellation efforts in low Earth orbit.
This page will be continuously updated as China launches satellites for the Qianfan, GuoWang, Honghu-3, Geely Future Mobility, and Tianqi constellations. These five constellations are expected to have a combined satellite count of 47,930 once fully deployed.
I will share when this page is updated on my Twitter (officially “X”) and Bluesky account, where you can also pester me to update it. You can jump to each constellation with the following hyperlinks:
Qianfan
The Qianfan (千帆) mega-constellation, formerly called G60 Starlink, is operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co Ltd, which is partly backed by the municipal government of Shanghai. Qianfan literally means ‘Thousand Sails’ in English, which is why some media refer to it as such. This constellation may have up to 15,000 satellites in orbit by 2030.
So far, 72 satellites have been launched for this constellation.
2024
August 6th - Polar Group 01 (18 satellites)
On August 6th the first batch of satellites for Qianfan was sent into a polar orbit atop of a Long March 6A. This launch occurred from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.
After launch 18 satellites were deployed from the Long March 6A Y21’s second-stage, at an altitude of approximately 800 kilometers.
October 15th - Polar Group 02 (18 satellites)
A little over two months later, the second batch of Qianfan satellites were sent into polar orbit atop of a Long March 6A, also from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.
Following launch 18 satellites were deployed from the Long March 6A Y20’s second-stage, likely at a similar altitude to the first batch.
December 5th - Polar Group 03 (18 satellites)
Following another two-month gap, the third batch of Qianfan satellites were delivered to polar orbit atop of a Long March 6A, once again flying from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.
After launch 18 satellites were deployed from the Long March 6A Y22’s second-stage.
2025
January 23rd - Polar Group 06 (18 satellites)
Qianfan began deployment in 2025 with its fourth batch, officially group six, being sent to polar orbit by a Long March 6A, flying from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.
After launch 18 satellites were released from the Long March 6A Y6’s second-stage.
GuoWang
The GuoWang (郭望) mega-constellation is operated by China Satellite Network Group, and is backed by the Chinese government. This constellation may have up to 13,000 satellites in orbit once fully deployed.
So far, 19 satellites have been launched for this constellation.
2024
December 16th - GuoWang Group 01 (10 satellites)
The first group of GuoWang satellites entered a polar orbit on December 16th after being launched on a Long March 5B, with a Yuanzheng-2 upper-stage, from the Wenchang Space Launch Site.
After maneuvers with the Yuangzheng-2 upper-stage, the 10 satellites were tracked in a roughly 1,090-kilometer by 1,110-kilometer orbit.
2025
February 11th - GuoWang Group 02 (9 satellites)
A second group of GuoWang satellites was delivered into low Earth orbit by the first Long March 8A, from the Wenchang Space Launch Site. This launch had nine satellites were onboard, which were deployed into a roughly 871 by 860 kilometer orbit.
Honghu-3
The Honghu-3 mega-constellation is a joint venture between LandSpace, a launch company, and Hongqing Technology, a satellite manufacturer. LandSpace holds a 48% stake in Hongqing Technology. This constellation may have up to 10,000 satellites in orbit once fully deployed.
Pending first launch.
Geely Future Mobility Constellation
The Geely Future Mobility Constellation is backed by Chinese automaker Geely (Zhejiang Geely Holding Group), with its wholly-owned subsidiary Geespace developing spacecraft and managing the constellation. This constellation will provide communication, connectivity, and positioning services. Once phases two and three of satellite deployment is completed, services will be expanded to include connectivity to mobile phones and satellite internet.
Geespace plans to deploy the mega-constellation in three phases. Phase one (2022-2025) will have 72 satellites sent into orbit, phase two will add an additional 264 satellites, and phase three will add another 5,676 satellites. In total 6,012 satellites are planned to be deployed.
So far, 30 satellites have been launched for this constellation.
2022
June 2nd - Group 01 (9 satellites)
June 2nd 2022 had the first group of the Geely Future Mobility satellites enter orbit after a launch atop of a Long March 2C launching from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. This is believed to have made Geespace China’s first privately owned developer, operator, and mass producer of low-orbit commercial satellites.
After launch 9 satellites were deployed.
2024
February 3rd - Group 02 (11 satellites)
The second group of Geely Future Mobility satellites entered orbit on February 3rd 2024 after launching atop a Long March 2C from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, like the previous launch.
After launch 11 satellites were deployed.
September 6th - Group 03 (10 satellites)
The third group of satellites for the Geely Future Mobility Constellation was launched atop of a Long March 6 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. This was the first time a group for the constellation was launched aboard a non-hypergolic fuelled launch vehicle.
After launch 10 satellites were deployed from the Long March 6 Y11’s third-stage.
Tianqi
Tianqi (天启) is an Internet-of-Things constellation from commercial space company Guodian Gaoke (国电高科). This constellation aims to provide enhanced connectivity services to assist with vehicle automation and communications.
Guodian Gaoke is also believed to be deploying the constellation in three phases based on stated plans and two International Telecommunication Union filings. The first phase will have 38 satellites, the second phase will add 640 satellites, and the third phase will add an additional 3,240 satellites. In total 3,918 satellites are planned to be deployed.
So far, 33 satellites have been launched for this constellation.
2018
October 29th - Tianqi-1 (1 satellite)
The first Tianqi satellite was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center atop of a Long March 2C and as a secondary payload.
2019
June 5th - Tianqi-3 (1 satellite)
The next Tianqi satellite sent into orbit was Tianqi-3 which was launched from the Yellow Sea atop of a Long March 11.
August 17th - Tianqi-2 (1 satellite)
Tianqi-2 was the third satellite launched and was sent into orbit during the maiden launch of Jielong-1 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
December 7th - Tianqi-4A & Tianqi 4B (2 satellites)
Two Tianqi satellites were launched atop of a Kuaizhou-1A from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. These satellites were Tianqi-4A and 4B.
2020
January 15th - Tianqi-5 (1 satellite)
Tianqi-5 was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center by a Long March 2D as part of a multi-customer rideshare.
July 25th - Tianqi-10 (1 satellite)
A Long March 4B launching from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carried Tianqi-10 into orbit as one of three payloads.
October 26th - Tianqi-6 (1 satellite)
A Long March 2C carried Tianqi-6 as a secondary payload during a launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
November 7th - Tianqi-11 (1 satellite)
Tianqi-11 was the sole satellite aboard the maiden launch of Ceres-1 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
December 22nd - Tianqi-8 (1 satellite)
Tianqi-8 was launched atop of a Long March 8 from the Wenchang Space Launch Site as part of the vehicles maiden flight.
2021
April 27th - Tianqi-9 (1 satellite)
A Long March 6 carried Tianqi-9 as part of a multi-customer rideshare mission from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.
May 6th - Tianqi-12 (1 satellite)
Tianqi-12 was a secondary payload during the launch of a Long March 2C from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
June 18th - Tianqi-14 (1 satellite)
Tianqi-14 was launched as a secondary payload atop of a Long March 2C during a launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
July 19th - Tianqi-15 (1 satellite)
Tianqi-15 was also launched as a secondary payload atop a Long March 2C during a launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, a month after the last launch.
2022
February 27th - Tianqi-19 (1 satellite)
Tianqi-19 was launched atop of a Long March 8 during a multi-customer rideshare mission from the Wenchang Space Launch Site. This satellite was also the first of the second generation of Tianqi spacecraft.
December 9th - Tianqi-7 (1 satellite)
A Jielong-3 launched Tianqi-7 into orbit as part of a multi-customer rideshare launch from the Yellow Sea.
2023
January 9th - Tianqi-13 (1 satellite)
A Ceres-1 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center carried Tianqi-13 satellite into orbit at the beginning of 2023.
September 5th - Tianqi-21, 22, 23, & 24 (4 satellites)
Four Tianqi satellites were launched atop of a Ceres-1S from the Yellow Sea. These satellites were Tianqi-21, Tianqi-22, Tianqi-23, and Tianqi-24.
2024
May 29th - Tianqi-25, 26, 27, & 28 (4 satellites)
Another Ceres-1S carried another four Tianqi satellites into orbit from the Yellow Sea. These satellites were Tianqi-25, Tianqi-26, Tianqi-27, and Tianqi-28.
September 20th - Tianqi-29, 30, 31, & 32 (4 satellites)
Another four Tianqi satellites were launched, these satellites were carried into orbit by a Kuaizhou-1A from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. These satellites were Tianqi-29, Tianqi-30, Tianqi-31, and Tianqi-32.
December 19th - Tianqi-33, 34, 35, & 36 (4 satellites)
A Ceres-1S launched four Tianqi satellites into orbit from the Yellow Sea near the city of Rizhao. These satellites were Tianqi-33, Tianqi-34, Tianqi-35, and Tianqi-36, released into an 850-kilometer 45-degree inclination low Earth orbit.
What is a mega-constellation?
A mega-constellation of satellites has no firm definition but is normally comprised of thousands of satellites when referred to in media. No solid number is stated for the beginning of mega-constellations. For the purposes of this article, I believe a mega-constellation is any satellite network boasting over 1,000 spacecraft.
Satellite constellations are typically defined as:
“A satellite constellation is a group of artificial satellites working together as a system. Unlike a single satellite, a constellation can provide permanent global or near-global coverage, such that at any time everywhere on Earth at least one satellite is visible. Satellites are typically placed in sets of complementary orbital planes and connect to globally distributed ground stations. They may also use inter-satellite communication.”
- Wikipedia’s Satellite constellation page on September 27th 2024.
Article Updates
This section is a list of when this article was updated. The date published will also be moved forward with each update.
August 10th 2024: Article released.
September 27th 2024: Added Geely’s Future Mobility Constellation and Guodian Gaoke’s Tianqi Internet-of-Things constellation to reflect both company’s future plans. Also added the ‘What is a mega-constellation?’ section. Removed hyperlinks to years due to bugs with substacks heading links.
October 15th 2024: Added Qianfan Polar Group 02 (18 satellites) after a successful launch.
November 29th 2024: Expanded on Geely’s Future Mobility Constellation service offerings for phases two and three of operations. Also added a link to Bluesky.
December 5th 2024: Added Qianfan Polar Group 03 (18 satellites) after a successful launch.
December 16th 2024: Added the first GuoWang launch, GuoWang Group 01 (10 satellites).
December 19th 2024: Added the launch of Tianqi-33, Tianqi-34, Tianqi-35, and Tianqi-36.
January 23rd 2025: Added Qianfan Polar Group 06 (18 satellites) after a successful launch.
February 11th 2025: Added GuoWang Group 02, unconfirmed satellite count at the time of inclusion, after successful launch of a Long March 8A.