China successfully launched 27 low-orbit internet satellites from the Hainan Commercial Spacecraft Launch Site. The mission utilized the Long March 12 carrier rocket, which placed the satellites into their designated orbits. This follows a similar mission on September 23, where 26 satellites were deployed using a Long March 8A rocket.
The Long March 12 rocket, developed by the Eighth Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, is a two-stage vehicle measuring approximately 62 meters in length. It features a 4-meter diameter and is currently the nation's most capable single-core carrier rocket. Its payload capacity is at least 12 tons for low Earth orbit and 6 tons for a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.
The rocket incorporates advanced technologies such as aluminum-lithium alloy tanks and a 'three-horizontal' process, which includes horizontal assembly, testing, and transport to reduce operational time. The Hainan Commercial Spacecraft Launch Site, located in Wenchang, was constructed in 878 days and serves as a key facility for large-scale commercial satellite constellation deployment.
These satellites are part of the national GW constellation project, which plans to deploy 12,992 low-orbit satellites. The project consists of two sub-constellations: the GW-A59, operating below 590 kilometers for high-capacity broadband, and the GW-A2, operating at 1,145 kilometers for wide coverage. The system utilizes Ka-band broadband payloads and inter-satellite laser links.
During the 16th Arctic scientific expedition in 2026, the GW constellation successfully conducted cross-polar communication tests. The system enabled real-time video calls across both poles with end-to-end latency under 1 second and peak uplink and downlink speeds reaching 30 Mbps. This marked the first such demonstration using a domestic low-orbit satellite internet system.
