This month has seen the launches of three different commercial Chinese rockets, and the return-to-flight of a rocket that last flew in mid-2021. China has also begun deploying the world’s first space-based computing satellite constellation.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway for China’s second interplanetary mission — a milestone two-part journey to return samples from an asteroid and study a comet.
The number of Chinese orbital launches has increased by a third in 2025, and the number of payloads delivered to orbit has doubled from 2024, with over 140 payloads deployed to date. This can be attributed in part to the build-out of two internet megaconstellations, though the list of available rockets remains a bottleneck.
Chinese satellite constellations continue to grow
The Guowang (“National”) network is state-owned and operated by SatNet. It has lofted 29 satellites across three launches since late December and has yet to average one launch per month. Two missions launched atop Chang Zheng 5B vehicles, while another was lofted aboard the maiden launch of the Chang Zheng 8A.
Chang Zheng 12 is transported to the Commercial LC-2 pad in Wenchang. (Credit: Hainan Commercial Development Center)
The Chang Zheng 12 (CZ-12) rocket, developed to support China’s megaconstellation plans, made its debut in late November and has yet to fly again. A second CZ-12 vehicle was recently transported to the Commercial LC-2 pad at the Hainan commercial spaceport in Wenchang, prompting expectations of a launch in the coming weeks.
The Qianfan (“Thousand Sails”) constellation was the first of the two megaconstellations to launch satellites, with its first mission launching in August 2024. This constellation is also referred to as “G60” in reference to the G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor, in which the satellites have been developed. Positioned between the G60 Expressway and a high-speed railway route that runs to and from Shanghai, this high-tech development zone is driving innovation across the Yangtze River Delta region.
Backed by the government of Shanghai, the constellation now has 90 satellites in orbit, which were lofted across five launches with batches of 18 satellites, predominantly aboard Chang Zheng 6A (CZ-6A)rockets. The most recent Qianfan mission launched over two months ago atop a Chang Zheng 8 (CZ-8), with the constellation averaging nearly one mission every two months. The next CZ-8 Qianfan mission is not expected until June.
Render of Qianfan satellites in orbit. (Credit: CCTV)
A third constellation, expected to be named Honghu-3, is still in the research and development phase. Unlike the other two constellations, which are expected to grow to approximately 13,000 satellites, Honghu-3 is a private-sector initiative that is half-owned by Landspace. Plans have been filed for a constellation of 10,000 satellites across 160 orbital planes. The satellites are designed by Shanghai Hongqing Technology in the same G60 corridor as Qianfan, with a manufacturing facility under construction in Jiangsu Province near Shanghai.
ADA Space launches new satellites
ADA Space launched 12 Xingshidai (“Star Age”) satellites into Sun-synchronous orbit this month, which will test in-orbit data processing. Known as the “Space Computing Constellation,” the first batch was launched aboard a Chang Zheng 2D from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) on May 14.
ADA Space Xingshidai satellites are integrated with the Chang Zheng 2D. (Credit: ADA Space)
The “021” mission name for this flight represented the transition “from zero to one” and marked the inaugural launch of ADA Space’s initiative to shift from Earth-based computing to a real-time computation infrastructure in orbit.
The satellites form their own network using laser links that operate at up to 100 gigabits per second. They are equipped with the company’s self-developed AI technology, which utilizes up to eight billion parameters, and remote sensing payloads. This initial constellation can process five peta operations per second (POPS). The company plans to launch 2,800 satellites and increase processing to 1,000 POPS.
A second Group 02 constellation is already in the design stage. ADA Space believes that processing data while in orbit before transmitting it to Earth will significantly boost industrial development and allow for the bypassing of bandwidth limitations. “As satellite Earth observation resolutions improve, the volume of data generated continues to increase,” said Wang Jianyu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. “Transferring all this data to the ground for processing is not only a challenge due to the large data volumes but also impacts the timely application of the data.”
Landspace’s ZhuQue-2E Y2 ascends from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. (Credit: Landspace)
LandSpace’s ZhuQue-2E flies again, ZhuQue-3 readies for testing
The delayed second launch of LandSpace’s enhanced ZhuQue-2E took place on May 17 from Site 96A at JSLC. The initial attempt was scrubbed following an issue with the launch support system.
The vehicle was hand-painted with a colourful design and carried six Tianyi satellites for SpaceTy. The satellites were a mix of technology demonstrators and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellites.
This mission utilized the vehicle’s 4.2 m diameter fairing, extended to 8.7 m in height with an improved carbon fiber composition. The vehicle also sported upgraded Tianque-12A engines on the first stage. This was the fifth flight overall for the ZhuQue-2 family, which burns liquid methane and oxygen as propellants.
Meanwhile, the first stage test vehicle for the company’s forthcoming ZhuQue-3 (ZQ-3) was spotted being transported from Jiaxing to JSLC for its static fire test campaign next month. The vehicle could potentially fly more than once this year, with a maiden launch expected this summer. The debut ZQ-3 vehicle is understood to be shorter and have a reduced capacity that is almost half of the intended 21,300 kg to low-Earth orbit (LEO) when expended. Tests of the ZQ-3 transport erector were conducted in late April using a vehicle simulator.
Gushenxing-1 (Ceres-1) is prepared for the previous sea-launch mission in January 2025 (Credit: Galactic Energy)
China’s launch cadence continues to grow
In the past week, several commercial companies launched their first missions of 2025. Galactic Energy launched its Gushenxing-1S, or Ceres-1S, rocket on May 19. This flight launched from the Oriental Spaceport Launch Ship, also known as Dong Fang Hang Tian Gang, in coastal waters near Rizhao. Another batch of Tianqi Internet of Things satellites was onboard. The first phase of Guodian Gaoke’s constellation is now one satellite short of completion at 37, with the other two phases planned to bring the total number of satellites to 3,918.
On May 21, CAS Space launched its first Lijian-1, or Kinetica-1, rocket of the year from Site 130 at JSLC. This mission served as the vehicle’s return-to-flight after a third stage failure during a mission in late December. The May 21 mission carried six satellites with capabilities ranging from multispectral imaging to sub-meter resolution remote sensing. These satellites bring the company’s count of payloads delivered to orbit to 63 across six successful missions.
CAS Space test infrastructure with a simulation of the Lijian-2 (Kinetica-2). (Credit: CAS Space)
Meanwhile, the company has reached significant milestones in its testing of ground support infrastructure ahead of the debut of its Lijian-2 rocket this September. The vehicle was selected in October to carry the new Qingzhou cargo vehicle to the Tiangong space station and is also expected to support launches for China’s megaconstellations.
The ground infrastructure verification process used a simulation of the rocket body to test a wide range of operations, including the horizontal transportation of the rocket to and from the pad. Mechanical, electrical, and hydraulic systems on the transport erector were thoroughly tested, including alignment, connections, and the vertical staging of the vehicle. The hardware also includes an elevator for the loading of cargo while the rocket is vertical. Measuring 53 m in height, Lijian-2 will be expendable at first, but there are plans to recover and reuse the first stage and its boosters by 2028.
Over at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the Shanxi Province, a CZ-6A launched Yaogan 40 Group 02 into polar orbit on May 11. This set a new pad turnaround record, with the launch coming just 22 days after its last mission. The launch campaign for the CZ-6A is reported to have been shortened to just 14 days.
A Chang Zheng 3C launches the TJSW-19 mission from Xichang Satellite Launch Center. (Credit: CCTV/CASC)
On May 12, a Chang Zheng 3C (CZ-3C) launched a Tongxin Jishu Shiyan Weixing experimental satellite, TJSW-19, to a geostationary transfer orbit. These classified missions are suspected to support China’s military activities, such as signals intelligence, early warning, or surveillance. The CZ-3C is a medium-lift version of the Chang Zheng 3B (CZ-3B) with two strap-on boosters instead of four.
Tianwen-2 prepares for launch
The heavier-lift CZ-3B debuted 29 years ago and, in its current “enhanced” variation (CZ-3B/E), exceeded 100 flights last year. The eighth flight of the CZ-3B/E in 2025 will carry the Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission. This is China’s second interplanetary mission, and the milestone mission is due to launch no earlier than May 28 from Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China. Tianwen-2 will become the first Chinese mission to return samples of an asteroid, 469219 Kamo’oalewa, before moving on to study comet 311P/PANSTARRS.
Tianwen-2 is lifted to be integrated with the Chang Zheng 3B/E. (Credit: China Academy of Sciences)
The Tianwen-2 spacecraft has been at Xichang since February and was moved to the launch area on May 18 to be integrated with the CZ-3B/E following pre-flight checkouts. During its prolonged 10-year journey into deep space, the mission will demonstrate in situ scientific analysis in addition to the autonomous navigation required for a multi-target rendezvous.
The spacecraft aims to rendezvous with 469219 Kamo’oalewa, a near-Earth asteroid, around 4.6 million km from Earth — roughly 12 times the average distance between Earth and the Moon. It will perform detailed observations of the asteroid, measuring approximately 40 to 100 m in diameter, and collect surface samples.
The spacecraft will employ two techniques to acquire its samples. It will use the “touch-and-go” sample collection technique used on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx and JAXA’s Hayabusa 2 asteroid-sampling missions. This approach is ideal for collecting loose surface material. However, another, more novel technique will also be attempted for subsurface samples. Tianwen-2 will attempt to autonomously anchor itself to the asteroid’s surface using four robotic arms, each fitted with a drill. This method would extract deeper samples that have been less exposed to the environment of space.
Render of Tianwen-2 approaching its target asteroid 469219 Kamo’oalewa. (Credit: CNSA)
If successful, the returned samples could shed new light on the origins of asteroids and reveal whether 469219 Kamo’oalewa is a primitive asteroid or, potentially, a fragment of the Moon that was ejected by an impact long ago.
After deploying its sample capsule for return to Earth before the end of the decade, Tianwen-2 will perform a gravity assist maneuver at Earth to put itself on a trajectory toward 311P/PANSTARRS, a volatile-rich active comet in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft is set to rendezvous with 311P/PANSTARRS in 2034 and spend about a year studying the comet, which orbits the Sun roughly every three years.
While not explicitly described as a communications test mission, Tianwen-2 will also provide an opportunity to validate China’s deep-space communications systems, laying the groundwork for the more ambitious Tianwen-4 mission to Jupiter and Uranus.
(Lead image: ZhuQue-2E Y2 ascends after liftoff from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Credit: CCTV)
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