China launches 18 satellites from Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site

China launched a Long March 8 carrier rocket early on Wednesday morning at the Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center in Wenchang, a coastal city in Hainan province, sending 18 internet satellites into space.

According to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's dominant space conglomerate, the rocket blasted off at 12:38 am from the commercial spaceport's No 1 launch pad, marking the first launch activity at the pad, which is specifically tasked with servicing Long March 8-series rockets.

After a short flight, the rocket deployed 18 plate-shaped satellites, the fifth batch in the Spacesail Constellation, into their preset orbit, said the State-owned company, the contractor of the launch mission.

In late November, the space complex conducted its maiden launch operation, facilitating the first flight of the Long March 12 rocket model from its No 2 launch pad.

As the nation's first spaceport dedicated to facilitating commercial operations, the Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center is a joint venture of the Hainan provincial government and three State-owned space conglomerates. It is the fifth ground-based launch complex in China and the first run by a local government.

The No 1 launch pad was completed in December 2023 while the No 2 pad was finished in June 2024.

The Wenchang Space Launch Center, the other spaceport in Hainan, is, like the three other such centers in China — Jiuquan, Taiyuan and Xichang — administered by the central government and primarily tasked with serving State programs such as lunar explorations and manned spaceflights.

After the launch, a total of 90 satellites have been launched for the Spacesail Constellation, previously known as the G60 network. The system is intended for providing high-speed, secure and reliable broadband internet services to users around the world, and is designed to consist of as many as more than 10,000 satellites travelling in low-altitude orbits before the end of 2030, according to Spacesail, the network's operator in Shanghai.

The first group of satellites in the network was launched in August 2024. The second group was deployed in October. The third batch was hauled into space in December. The fourth clutch was lifted in January this year. Each of the four groups consists of 18 identical satellites. All of them were carried by the Long March 6A model, a product of the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province.