China launches first satellites in mega internet constellation project

China sent 18 satellites into space on Tuesday from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province.

The satellites were launched at 2:42 p.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a modified Long March-6 carrier rocket and have entered their preset orbit.

They are the first batch of a group of satellites that will be used to establish China's "Thousand Sails Constellation" or "G60 Starlink," the nation's version of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet constellation.

The "Thousand Sails Constellation" project, led by Shanghai Yuanxin Satellite Technology Co., LTD., aims to deploy more than 14,000 low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide global users with satellite broadband internet services, explained Zhu Xiaocheng, deputy director of the project.

Upon completion, the constellation is expected to boost disaster prevention and reduction, mobile technology development, and other sectors.

Satellites can be divided into geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites, medium-Earth orbit (MEO) satellites, and low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites based on their altitude. GEO satellites operate at an altitude of over 36,000 kilometers, and MEO satellites operate at an altitude ranging from 2,000 kilometers to 36,000 kilometers.

LEO satellites operate at altitudes of 160 kilometers to 2,000 kilometers from the Earth's surface. Because of their low orbital altitude, these satellites have low transmission delay and low link loss, making them very suitable for developing satellite internet services. The "Thousand Sails Constellation" will adopt a multi-layer, multi-orbit, and phased constellation design.

Zhu explained that while as few as three GEO satellites could provide global internet coverage, they can only provide services with low speed, which is why "the transmission of big data needs to be done with an LEO network system."

The satellite service provider said it plans to launch 648 satellites by the end of 2025 to provide network coverage in some regions. From 2026 to 2027, it will send another 648 satellites into orbit to realize global network coverage. It plans to deploy all 14,000 satellites to offer global users satellite broadband internet service with high speed and reliability by 2030.

"This year, we are going to complete the launch and network operation of at least 108 satellites. They will be the foundation for a constellation formed by thousands of satellites," said Lu Ben, senior vice president of Shanghai Yuanxin Satellite Technology.

According to Zhu, internet services provided by the satellite constellation will function as an extension of the ground service, as it can cover larger areas at a lower cost. In the future, people can go farther places and connect to the internet in case of geological disasters or any emergent situations.

"As the communication system becomes faster and the users covered by the service continue to increase, we may welcome a new era where everything is linked to the internet," Zhu said.