China has launched 10 internet satellites belonging to its competitor, Starlink, into orbit
The Chinese "Zhuque-2E Y7" rocket successfully launched a group of 10 "Qianfan" internet satellites into orbit to expand the "Spacesail Constellation" orbital fleet. The launch took place from a launch pad in the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Zone near the Jiuquan Spaceport, and all satellites were delivered to their target orbits.
This batch is the 15th to join the constellation, which is designed to provide broadband internet services and is operated by the state-owned company Shanghai Spacesail Technologies. Deployment of the network began in August 2024, and there are currently 248 satellites in low Earth orbit operating in the Ku, Q, and V bands. Eventually, the constellation will consist of 12,000 satellites.
The Zhujue-2E, a two-stage, medium-class launch vehicle, runs on liquid oxygen and methane. With a length of 55.9 meters and a launch mass of 267 metric tons, it is capable of delivering up to 6 metric tons of payload to low Earth orbit and up to 4 metric tons to a sun-synchronous orbit.
This was reported by LandSpace Technology, the rocket’s developer.
On August 25, China launched a Long March-6C launch vehicle carrying seven satellites. The rocket lifted off at 11:21 a.m. Beijing time from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the northern Chinese province of Shanxi. According to the publication, the satellites were successfully placed into their planned orbits.
For the first time in its history, China carried out a successful controlled re-entry of the first stage of a reusable launch vehicle. This occurred during the launch of the new Changzheng-10B rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Center.
