Qianfan (Spacesail)

SpaceSail's Qianfan (Thousand Sails) megaconstellation added two groups of satellites in as many days: a Long March 6A carried 18 satellites into near-polar orbit from Taiyuan on July 4, followed by a Long March 8A lofting 20 satellites — the largest Qianfan group to date — from Wenchang on July 5. The back-to-back launches lifted the constellation to 238 satellites in orbit as SpaceSail works toward commercial broadband service, including international markets, targeted for Q4 2026. The operator is separately raising up to $2.2 billion to accelerate the Starlink rival.

Shanghai Spacesail Technologies, operator of the Qianfan (G60) megaconstellation, is seeking up to 15 billion yuan, about $2.2 billion, in a new capital raise to accelerate its Starlink rival. The company plans to bring in as many as three new investors for a combined stake of no more than 20%, keeping the venture under state control and excluding foreign investment. Proceeds are earmarked for constellation build-out, R&D and operations as Qianfan targets 324 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026 on the way to an eventual 15,000-plus.

LandSpace's Zhuque-2E Y6 rocket lifted off from the Dongfeng Aerospace Innovation Pilot Zone on June 9, successfully delivering the SpaceSail DTC 01 and China Mobile 02 satellites to their designated orbits — the eighth successful mission for the Zhuque-2 methane rocket family. The flight extends LandSpace's commercial launch cadence as China's leading private methalox operator while the company pursues its STAR Market IPO and works toward full first-stage recovery on the larger Zhuque-3.

Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology's Qianfan megaconstellation crossed the 200-satellite mark on June 5 after CASC put up 36 satellites in 19 hours — a Long March 6A from Taiyuan on June 4 and a Long March 8 from Wenchang on June 5, each carrying 18 SSST-built spacecraft. SSST said the milestone is enough to begin supporting maritime Automatic Identification System services and accelerates buildout of China's flagship answer to Starlink, though Qianfan still needs to roughly triple its in-orbit fleet by year-end to hit its 324-satellite initial global coverage target.

CASC's new partially reusable Long March 12B lifted off from Jiuquan at 4:40 a.m. EDT on June 1 in a no-notice maiden flight, successfully delivering two Genesat-built Qianfan broadband satellites — the constellation's 10th batch — to orbit. The 72-meter, 20-ton-to-LEO vehicle uses nine YF-102R kerolox engines on a 4.37-meter core and is designed for propulsive first-stage recovery, though the debut did not attempt a landing; the rocket is China's most capable commercial-class lifter to date and is expected to be a workhorse for the Shanghai-led megaconstellation.