China launches 18 satellites for Spacesail constellation — ECNS

On November 3, China launched a Lijian-2 Y2 launch vehicle carrying 18 satellites for the Spacesail constellation. The launch took place from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation zone in the country’s northwest at 8:15 a.m. Beijing time. The satellites were placed into their planned orbit as part of China’s commercial low-Earth-orbit satellite network.

First large-scale deployment

As ECNS reports, the mission marked the first large-scale deployment of a satellite internet constellation using Lijian-2. It was the rocket’s second flight and the 18th launch for the Lijian series.

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Rocket characteristics

Lijian-2 is a liquid-propellant launch vehicle developed by CAS Space. According to the company, it is China’s first launch vehicle with a universal core stage configuration with boosters. The rocket can deliver up to 8 tonnes of payload to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit or up to 12 tonnes to a 200-kilometer low-Earth orbit.

Yang Haoliang, Lijian-2 rocket commander at CAS Space, said that China’s low-Earth-orbit satellite internet has entered a stage of intensive deployment. According to him, high launch frequency, reliability and low cost of such missions are important for the development of satellite internet, and this launch was an important test of the rocket’s capabilities for deploying satellite networks.