HELSINKI - China's ambitious Qianfan constellation, which sounds like a fancy way to say 'a lot of satellites,' hit the 200-satellite mark this week after two back-to-back Long March launches. Because apparently, 168 satellites (the size of the rival Guowang constellation) was just a warm-up.
The Long March 6A launched Thursday from Taiyuan at 7:39 a.m. Eastern, producing 'jellyfish' effects in the upper atmosphere - nature's way of saying 'Nice try, but I'm still in charge.' The mission added 18 satellites to the project led by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), or Spacesail, which is definitely not a company name that sounds like a startup from 2015.
The following day, the Long March 8 lifted off from Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site at 2:34 a.m. Eastern, adding another 18 satellites. That's 36 satellites in two days, which is either impressive or terrifying, depending on your feelings about space debris.
Qianfan now surpasses the 168 satellites of the national Guowang broadband megaconstellation, a more opaque project that probably has national security applications, like maybe tracking your Amazon packages - or something more sinister. Both projects aim for more than 10,000 satellites in orbit, which is basically a space traffic jam waiting to happen.
Deployment is accelerating: the first launch was in August 2024, but a pause followed the fifth launch in March 2025 until October 2025. Since April 7, there have been six launches. Because nothing says 'we're serious' like a six-launch month.
China debuted the Long March 12B on June 1, which deployed a pair of Qianfan satellites. The rocket features landing legs and a powered descent test is expected in the future - because even rockets need to learn how to walk before they can run.
The launches were China's 37th orbital launches of 2026, as the country targets more than 100 launches in a calendar year for the first time. Next up: a Long March 5 with an undisclosed payload on June 10, because secrecy is the spice of spaceflight.