Qianfan Begins 2025 Deployments [Long March 6A Y6]
The first batch of Qianfan satellites for 2025 was delivered into orbit.
On January 23rd at 13:15 pm China Standard Time, or 05:15 am Universal Coordinated Time, a Long March 6A blasted off from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying a batch of Qianfan satellites to polar orbit.
Like the previous three launches, eighteen satellites were atop of the Long March 6A. This is the fourth batch of Qianfan satellites to be delivered into orbit but is being called the sixth group of satellites, possibly indicating that groups four and five are awaiting launch elsewhere, likely to be Wenchang. With the launch and deployment of the satellites the total number of Qianfan satellites now stands at seventy-two.
In 2024 108 Qianfan satellites were planned to be launched, with only 54 actually launched. For 2025 648 satellites are set to be launched unless the satellites not launched last year are added for 702 satellites. As such between thirty-six and thirty-nine Qianfan satellite launches may take place this year, if launched in batches of eighteen.
Each Qianfan satellite is believed to weigh 300 kilograms with a 'flat pack' design to fit as many satellites as possible inside the rocket fairing. 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.
The Qianfan (千帆) mega-constellation, formerly called G60 Starlink and sometimes referred to as SpaceSail, is operated by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology, which the Shanghai municipal government partly backs. Qianfan is also part of Shanghai's plan to foster a strong space industry between 2023 and 2025. Longer-term plans for the constellation will have it provide regular internet coverage in China by the end of 2025, and regular internet coverage worldwide by the end of 2027. By the end of 2030, 15,000 satellites are planned to be in orbit.
Weather at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center was reported to hit a low of minus thirty degrees Celsius along with heavy snowfall and freezing winds. To combat the cold temperatures, additional insulation was added to ground-side support equipment along with air conditioning critical rocket components and the satellites up until launch. Critical components were also tested and monitored regularly ahead of launch.
This year the Long March 6A is planned to begin higher-density launch missions, thanks to optimizations made in the preparation, test, and launch processes. While an exact figure was not said the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation expects more than ten launches to take place in 2025.
Today’s launch was the 10th mission for the Long March 6A, the 229th Long March vehicle from the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, and the 557th launch for the Long March launch vehicle series. This was also the 5th launch from China in 2025.
Liftoff video via 航天五线谱 and 中国航天科技集团 on Weibo.
Check out the previous Long March 6A launch
What is the Long March 6A?
This section is for those less familiar with China's Long March series of launch vehicles.
The Long March 6A is the first new-generation launch vehicle in China to utilize a combination of solid and liquid propellants. This vehicle was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology and utilizes a two-and-a-half-stage design, the boosters burn an unspecified solid propellant with the first and second stages burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen.
The payload capacity of the launch vehicle is currently as follows:
8,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit
4,500 kilograms to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit
The first-stage is powered by two YF-100 engines, generating a combined thrust of approximately 244 tons using rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen. The first-stage is augmented by four solid rocket boosters, each producing 124 tons of thrust from an unspecified solid propellant, resulting in a combined booster thrust of 492 tons. Together, the first-stage and boosters generate a total thrust of 736 tons. The second stage is powered by a single YF-115 engine, producing 18 tons of thrust using also burning rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen.
On the launchpad, the Long March 6A is believed to be up to 52 meters tall, two fairings are available with one 2 meters taller than the other, and weighs 530,000 kilograms when fully fuelled. The first and second stages of the vehicle have a diameter of 3.35 meters while the solid-fuelled boosters have a diameter of 2 meters, the fairing has a diameter of 4.2 meters.
So far every Long March 6A has launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, in the north of Shanxi province.
