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China successfully launches 28 low-orbit satellite internet satellites
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- DeepHorus
At 10:03 Beijing Time on October 25, 2026, China successfully launched the 28th batch of satellites for the Satellite Internet low-Earth-orbit constellation using a Long March 8A carrier rocket at the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site. The satellites smoothly entered the planned orbit, and the launch mission was a complete success. This is the latest progress in the intensive networking of the GW constellation.
The Long March 8A was developed under the overall leadership of the First Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and is a two-and-a-half-stage liquid launch vehicle independently developed by China. The rocket made its maiden flight in February 2025, and its payload capacity to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit has been increased to 7 tonnes. Its upper stage can ignite multiple times and release satellites in batches. It uses a 5.2-meter fairing and can meet the launch requirements for medium- and low-orbit constellation networking.
The satellites in the "Satellite Internet Low-Earth-Orbit" series belong to China SatNet's GW constellation, which is China's first satellite internet program and also its first space-air integrated 6G satellite internet program. The constellation plans to deploy 12,992 satellites, divided into two sub-constellations, GW-A59 and GW-A2. According to the plan, about 1,300 satellites will be deployed by the end of 2029, and full networking will be completed by 2035.
This series of satellites was developed under the overall leadership of the Fifth Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. On December 16, 2024, China launched the Low-Earth-Orbit Group 01 satellites in a "one rocket, ten satellites" mode, marking the entry of the GW constellation into the construction phase. Since then, the constellation has entered a period of intensive launches.
The Low-Earth-Orbit Group 26 satellites were launched by a Long March 8A at the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site on September 23, 2026, and the Low-Earth-Orbit Group 27 satellites were launched by a Long March 12 at the same launch site on October 10, 2026. The successful orbit insertion of the Group 28 satellites this time continued the intensive construction pace. The entire rocket has a takeoff weight of about 371 tonnes and a total height of about 50.5 meters.
In October 2026, the constellation achieved its first real-time video call spanning the North and South Poles. The video transmission delay was less than 1 second, and the peak uplink and downlink rates were both about 30 Mbps. This verified the communication capability of the domestically produced satellite internet in environments such as extreme low temperatures and high altitudes. The related equipment can also be used for emergency rescue and maritime communications. As networking progresses, the GW constellation is one step closer to its goal of completing full networking by 2035.
