China completes six orbital launches in six days

China's space launch sector put on a striking display of capacity and variety last week, sending four different orbital rockets aloft in roughly 45 hours from September 15 to 17 — and then following up with two more launches by September 21, bringing the total to six successful missions in less than a week.space+1

The burst of activity underscored both the rising tempo of China's launch operations and the expanding role of private companies alongside state-run programs, as the country pushes toward a target of more than 140 orbital launches in 2026.keeptrack

Four Rockets, Three Spaceports

The streak began on Tuesday, September 15, when LandSpace's Zhuque-2E Y7 — a methane- and liquid-oxygen-fueled rocket — lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, deploying 10 satellites for the Qianfan broadband megaconstellation. Less than 16 hours later, Orienspace's Gravity-1, a squat solid-fuel rocket billed as the world's most powerful of its type, launched nine more Qianfan satellites from a barge off the coast of Shanghai. The two missions brought the total number of Qianfan satellites launched to 256.youtube+3

On Thursday, September 17, a state-built Long March 12 carried nine satellites for the SatNet low-Earth-orbit broadband constellation from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan island. About two hours later, a Kuaizhou-11 launched from Jiuquan with two commercial remote-sensing satellites.space+2

Week's Pace Continues

China kept launching. On Saturday, September 19, a Long March 2D rocket lifted off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carrying four PIESAT-2 synthetic aperture radar satellites developed by GalaxySpace, marking the 668th flight of the Long March rocket series. On Sunday, a Kinetica-1 rocket sent nine more satellites into orbit from Jiuquan, completing the six-launch streak with a perfect success record.qazinform+2

Reusability Still Ahead

None of the six rockets attempted a booster landing, but China has made progress on that front in recent months. Both LandSpace's Zhuque-3 and the state-developed Long March 10B have successfully landed first stages during orbital missions since mid-2026. No Chinese booster has yet flown a second orbital mission, though industry observers expect that milestone soon.space

The week's pace illustrated the breadth of China's launch infrastructure — spanning state and commercial operators, solid and liquid propellants, land and sea launch sites — as it races to populate two competing broadband megaconstellations that together envision nearly 28,000 satellites.report+1