China carried out two orbital launches on September 23 and 24, sending the twenty-sixth batch of satellites from the national Guowang space internet project and the fourth batch of Yaogan-40 satellites. The operations come amid an accelerating tempo that is putting Beijing before a busy final quarter, after the number of Chinese orbital launch attempts in 2026 reached a total of 70.
A Long March 8A launched the new batch of Guowang satellites at 9:32 a.m. Eastern Time on September 23, from the commercial launch site in Hainan. Less than 24 hours later, a Long March 6A lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, carrying three satellites from the Yaogan-40 (04) group.
Expanding the Guowang Network
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) confirmed that the Guowang satellites had entered their planned orbits. The U.S. Space Force later tracked the satellites in near-circular orbits at an altitude of approximately 1,100 kilometers, with an orbital inclination of 50 degrees. The batch was developed under the general supervision of the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), CASC’s main spacecraft manufacturing entity.
The Guowang project is operated by the state-owned China SatNet, which was established in 2021. The plan targets building a constellation comprising approximately 13,000 satellites, using satellites from multiple manufacturers and different launch vehicles from the Long March family. The Long March 8A, which first appeared in February 2025, is now being used regularly from Hainan’s commercial platforms.
The Yaogan-40 Mission and Constellation Indicators
According to Xinhua, the three Yaogan-40 satellites will primarily be used to monitor the electromagnetic environment and conduct related technical experiments. The satellites entered near-polar orbits at an altitude of approximately 800 kilometers, joining three previous batches in similar orbits.
Analysis by Integrity ISR indicates that the Yaogan-40 groups are distributed across orbital planes separated by 72 degrees in right ascension of the ascending node, suggesting that a fifth group may be needed to complete the orbital formation. The Long March 6A used for this mission has carried out 27 flights since its debut in March 2022, all of which successfully reached orbit, despite recorded cases of upper-stage breakup after payload deployment.
Why Does This Acceleration Matter?
China conducted 18 launches in the first quarter of 2026, 26 in the second quarter, and 26 in the third quarter. To surpass the threshold of 100 launches during the year, it will need to conduct at least 31 launches in the fourth quarter, a target consistent with the Chinese scheduling pattern that usually concentrates a larger number of missions toward the end of the year.
Among the prominent anticipated missions is Shenzhou-24, which is likely to launch in November aboard a Long March 2F from Jiuquan. The mission is expected, without official confirmation, to include a Pakistani payload specialist selected from among two Pakistan Air Force pilots training at the Chinese Astronaut Center. If confirmed, this person would be the first foreign astronaut to visit the Tiangong station.
The press briefing preceding the launch of Shenzhou-24 may also reveal information about the date of the first launch of the new Mengzhou crewed spacecraft and the Long March 10A rocket, which are linked to China’s crewed lunar plans. The list of potential launches also includes new commercial vehicles such as Gravity-2 from Orienspace, Hyperbola-3 from iSpace with an attempt to recover the first stage, and Zhihang-1 from Zenk Space, alongside additional flights for the Guowang and Qianfan constellations.
The dates of some projects remain unsettled, including the Haolong reusable spaceplane intended to transport cargo to Tiangong, which is planned to launch on a Zhuque-3 rocket from Landspace. Therefore, the fourth-quarter record reflects a mix of confirmed missions and likely trends, rather than a final schedule completed in every detail.