en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Long March 2D carrier rocket sent four satellite internet test satellites into orbit, concluding a busy month of launch missions in May. The rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 2:07 p.m. Eastern Time on May 30 (1807 UTC). The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced the success via its commercial launch service provider, CASC Commercial Rocket Co.

Details of this mission are limited. According to CASC, these satellites are primarily used for testing and verifying technologies such as direct satellite-to-phone broadband connectivity and integration of space and terrestrial networks. According to a commercial satellite affiliate, CASC developed at least one of the satellites, which may be linked to the national "Guowang" broadband mega-constellation; another comes from the Space Engineering Department of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC). An official release from the Beijing Yizhuang government stated that one satellite was built by Hongqing Technology, a satellite subsidiary of Landspace, which filed a constellation of 10,000 satellites with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2024.

This launch is the latest in a series of diverse satellite internet test satellite launches in recent years. A previous similar launch was completed in April using the Jielong-3 solid rocket. The Long March 2D rocket, provided by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) under CASC, has conducted over 100 missions since its maiden flight in August 1992.

Since mid-May, China's satellite launches have entered an intensive phase: On May 15, CAS Space used the Lijian-1 solid rocket to launch five satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, including MinoSpace's Taijing-3 05A and 05B satellites (providing 0.5-meter optical remote sensing imagery), Spacety's Tianyi-50 satellite, Tianyan-27 satellite, and Changguang Satellite's Gaofen-03D55 satellite for the Jilin-1 remote sensing constellation. On May 17, 18 "Qianfan Constellation" satellites were sent into orbit via a Long March 8 rocket from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site, bringing the total number of satellites in the constellation to 162; a previous batch was launched on May 12 via a Long March 6A rocket from the Taiyuan Launch Site. On May 24, the Shenzhou-23 crewed spacecraft was sent to the Tiangong space station. On May 26, a Long March 7A rocket launched the classified communication technology test satellite TJS-24 into geosynchronous transfer orbit. According to Xinhua News Agency, the satellite is primarily used to verify multi-band, high-speed satellite communication technologies. The TJS series satellites mainly operate in geostationary orbit (GEO), and Western analysts believe the series may perform classified missions including signals intelligence, early warning tasks, and supporting PLA satellite inspection activities.

Saturday's Long March 2D launch was China's 8th launch in May and the 34th launch of 2026. China appears to have set its annual launch target above 100 for the first time. As of the end of May, the number of launches is two more than the same period in 2025; China conducted a total of 92 launch missions last year.

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