PRESTON, United Kingdom — China launched a new batch of Guowang broadband satellites late Monday, continuing a flurry of missions to build a national low Earth orbit communications megaconstellation.
A Long March 8A rocket lifted off at 3:08 p.m. Eastern Aug. 25 (1908 UTC; 3:08 Beijing time, Aug. 26) from launch pad 1 at the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Center. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced the success of the launch via its Chinese language social media channels.
The statement revealed that the launch carried the 10th group of satellites for the Guowang broadband megaconstellation—part of China’s response to proliferated low Earth orbit communications constellations such as Starlink. Little is known about the satellites themselves, with no images published and only terse descriptions of the spacecraft. Observers note the lack of disclosure leaves open the possibility that Guowang satellites may carry additional payloads or functions, potentially paralleling elements of SpaceX’s Starshield service.
CASC’s China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), which has developed both small and large satellite buses for the constellation, provided the satellites for the mission.
The national Guowang project will consist of nearly 13,000 satellites in low Earth orbit. The near-term target for Guowang is to have 400 satellites in orbit by 2027. It is part of China’s response to Starlink, both commercially and strategically. The launch adds to the 72 operational Guowang satellites already in orbit, along with a number of experimental satellites. It was the ninth launch for the project this year and the sixth Guowang satellite launch inside 30 days as the project’s cadence ramps up.
Six of the Guowang satellite batches have entered 86.5-degree orbits, each into planes separated by 30 degrees in terms of longitude of the ascending node. The three other groups are in orbits with an inclination of 50 degrees, with navigation warnings indicating that Monday’s satellites will also be part of this subset.
IT Times, a Shanghai-based technology and business news outlet, quoted an unnamed source in a report Aug. 25 before the launch stating that the first generation of over 100 Guowang satellites will be completed before the end of the year to meet needs for diplomatic and emergency use. The source added that the technical framework for the second-generation Guowang constellation has not yet been fully validated. The report has not been independently confirmed.
The report added that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is expected to officially issue satellite Internet licenses to three basic telecommunications operators in the near future.
Monday’s launch was the third flight of the Long March 8A—a variant of the standard Long March 8, keeping its side boosters and utilizing upgraded hydrogen-liquid oxygen YF-75H engines on its second stage. It also features a more voluminous 5.2-meter-diameter fairing. All three Long March 8A launches have served Guowang, with the previous two sending nine satellites apiece into orbit. U.S. Space domain awareness will later provide clarity on the number of satellites launched Monday.
The Long March 8A appears to be being produced to support Guowang, with efforts including upping production of its YF-100 kerosene-lox engines at new manufacturing facilities. The Hainan commercial spaceport is also helping China raise its cadence to meet demand for launch from Guowang. It currently has two pads with two more under construction, and more expansive plans to follow.
The launch was China’s 49th orbital launch attempt of 2025, including a single failure. China appears on pace to surpass its national record of 68 launch attempts in a calendar year, set in 2024. Ceres-1 (Galactic Energy) and Kuazihou-11 (Expace) solid rockets could launch before the end of August, both from Jiuquan, northwest China.