{"id":89823,"date":"2026-09-17T15:38:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T07:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/?p=89823"},"modified":"2026-09-17T15:45:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T07:45:02","slug":"long-march-12-successfully-launches-the-25th-group-of-low-earth-orbit-internet-satellites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/long-march-12-successfully-launches-the-25th-group-of-low-earth-orbit-internet-satellites\/","title":{"rendered":"Long March 12 Successfully Launches the 25th Group of Low Earth Orbit Internet Satellites"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At 8:32 a.m. Beijing time on September 17, 2026, China launched the 25th group of low Earth orbit satellite internet spacecraft aboard a Long March 12 rocket from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site. The satellites entered their planned orbit, completing the mission successfully.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 100%;max-width: 989px;margin: 0 auto;aspect-ratio: 16 \/ 9\"><iframe style=\"width: 100%;height: 100%;border: 0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/08YVzSfyuV8\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe>Developed under the leadership of the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the Long March 12 is a new-generation launch vehicle using cryogenic liquid oxygen and kerosene. It is China\u2019s first 4-meter-class, single-core rocket. Approximately 62 meters long, it can carry at least 6 metric tons to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. Depending on mission requirements, it can use a 4.2-meter or 5.2-meter-diameter payload fairing and launch either single or multiple satellites to different orbits.<\/div>\n<p>The Long March 12 uses a preparation process based on horizontal assembly, testing and transport. Rocket assembly and satellite integration take place with the vehicle horizontal inside a processing building. The integrated rocket is then transported horizontally to the launch pad, raised and launched. This approach substantially shortens the launch preparation cycle and supports frequent commercial launches.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-89834 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Long-March-12-Rocket-During-Horizontal-Transport.webp\" alt=\"Long March 12 Rocket During Horizontal Transport\" width=\"1080\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Long-March-12-Rocket-During-Horizontal-Transport.webp 1080w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Long-March-12-Rocket-During-Horizontal-Transport-300x200.webp 300w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Long-March-12-Rocket-During-Horizontal-Transport-1024x683.webp 1024w, \/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Long-March-12-Rocket-During-Horizontal-Transport-768x512.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Long March 12 Rocket During Horizontal Transport<\/em><\/p>\n<p>CASC\u2019s China Commercial Rocket Company served as the prime contractor for launch services. The mission was the 667th launch in the Long March rocket series.<\/p>\n<p>It was another constellation deployment mission for the Long March 12 from Hainan. On August 16, the rocket launched the 24th group of low Earth orbit satellite internet spacecraft from the same site. For that mission, the site\u2019s second launch pad completed its first system-wide changeover from a configuration for a 5-meter-class rocket to one for a 4-meter-class rocket. The changeover demonstrated the site\u2019s ability to accommodate different launch vehicles and support rapid turnaround and a higher launch cadence.<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s low Earth orbit satellite internet projects are moving toward large-scale deployment. The Qianfan constellation had launched 256 satellites by September 16 and plans to reach 324 by the end of 2026, when it aims to begin providing regional service. Privately developed commercial rockets are also taking on launches of satellite batches. On September 15 and 16, they launched a total of 18 constellation satellites across two missions. As a mainstay medium-lift rocket in China\u2019s state-owned launch fleet, the Long March 12 is becoming a core launch vehicle supporting the large-scale development of China\u2019s low Earth orbit constellations through its reliable payload capacity and efficient launch preparation process.<\/p>\n<p>For international customers planning satellite deployments, China\u2019s growing space industry offers additional options for payloads and satellite assembly, integration and testing. Teams can <a href=\"https:\/\/starpath.global\/contact\">discuss their requirements with STARPATH GLOBAL<\/a> to explore competitively priced solutions suited to their missions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At 8:32 a.m. Beijing time on September 17, 2026, China launched the 25th group of low Earth orbit satellite internet spacecraft aboard a Long March 12 rocket from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site. The satellites entered their planned orbit, completing the mission successfully. Developed under the leadership of the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":89833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[312,135,291,10474,310,205,5744,10461,5922,4362],"class_list":["post-89823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-casc","tag-china","tag-commercial-space","tag-gw","tag-launch-vehicles","tag-long-march","tag-low-earth-orbit","tag-qianfan-constellation","tag-satellite-constellations","tag-satellite-internet"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89823"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89823"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89838,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89823\/revisions\/89838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}