A Gravity-1 Y3 carrier rocket carrying nine satellites blasts off from waters off the coast of Shanghai in east China on Sept. 16, 2026. The launch mission was carried out by the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The satellites, a new group of Qianfan Constellation satellites and an EUHT technology test satellite, lifted off at 6 a.m. (Beijing Time) atop a Gravity-1 Y3 carrier rocket. The mission was declared a complete success. (Photo by Zhang Shuo/Xinhua)
China launched nine satellites into preset orbits on Wednesday from waters off the coast of Shanghai in east China.
The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center carried out the launch mission. The satellites, a new group of Qianfan Constellation satellites and an EUHT technology test satellite, lifted off at 6 a.m. (Beijing Time) atop a Gravity-1 Y3 carrier rocket. The mission was declared a complete success.
The mission set new records for China’s single sea launch in terms of payload weight and orbital altitude, with a net payload weight of over three tonnes and an insertion altitude of about 800 kilometers, verifying the sea launch model’s adaptability to medium- and large-sized satellite payload missions, according to the Chinese commercial aerospace company OrienSpace, the developer of the rocket.
The Gravity-1 rocket has carried out four sea launches so far, all of which were successful. Today’s mission marked Gravity-1’s first launch for the networking of a large low-Earth-orbit satellite internet constellation.
According to OrienSpace, the satellites aboard the rocket were manufactured in Shanghai and launched from waters near Shanghai. Such land-sea coordination helps improve the overall efficiency of both commercial space manufacturing and launch operations. ■
A Gravity-1 Y3 carrier rocket carrying nine satellites blasts off from waters off the coast of Shanghai in east China on Sept. 16, 2026. The launch mission was carried out by the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The satellites, a new group of Qianfan Constellation satellites and an EUHT technology test satellite, lifted off at 6 a.m. (Beijing Time) atop a Gravity-1 Y3 carrier rocket. The mission was declared a complete success. (OrienSpace/Handout via Xinhua)
A Gravity-1 Y3 carrier rocket carrying nine satellites blasts off from waters off the coast of Shanghai in east China on Sept. 16, 2026. The launch mission was carried out by the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The satellites, a new group of Qianfan Constellation satellites and an EUHT technology test satellite, lifted off at 6 a.m. (Beijing Time) atop a Gravity-1 Y3 carrier rocket. The mission was declared a complete success. (OrienSpace/Handout via Xinhua)
A Gravity-1 Y3 carrier rocket carrying nine satellites blasts off from waters off the coast of Shanghai in east China on Sept. 16, 2026. The launch mission was carried out by the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The satellites, a new group of Qianfan Constellation satellites and an EUHT technology test satellite, lifted off at 6 a.m. (Beijing Time) atop a Gravity-1 Y3 carrier rocket. The mission was declared a complete success. (OrienSpace/Handout via Xinhua)
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