China successfully launched 27 low-Earth orbit internet satellites early Saturday morning aboard a Long March 12 rocket from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site, marking another milestone in Beijing's effort to assemble a sovereign global satellite constellation.
The rocket lifted off at 3:27 a.m. local time, placing the 27th batch of satellites for China's national satellite internet project into their designated orbits. Developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, the 62-meter Long March 12 represents China's largest single-core launch vehicle, capable of delivering at least 12 metric tons to low-Earth orbit and 6 tons to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. The rocket features a streamlined horizontal assembly, testing, and transport operational workflow designed to significantly reduce launch pad preparation times.
Saturday's mission follows the Sept. 23 launch of the 26th satellite batch aboard a Long March 8A rocket from the same facility in Wenchang. Operated by Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Co. Ltd., the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site was constructed in 878 days to serve as China's primary hub for high-frequency commercial and state constellation deployments.
The payloads belong to China's national GW megaconstellation, a state-directed project managed by China Satellite Network Group that envisions a total deployment of 12,992 satellites. The network operates through a layered architecture: the GW-A59 sub-constellation stationed below 590 kilometers provides high-capacity, low-latency broadband services, while the GW-A2 sub-constellation deployed at an altitude of 1,145 kilometers handles wide-area coverage and system redundancy. Both orbital tiers incorporate Ka-band payloads and inter-satellite laser links.
The orbital deployment comes as China accelerates real-world testing of its satellite communications network. During China's 16th Arctic scientific expedition in 2026, the GW constellation successfully completed in-orbit cross-polar communication trials, conducting real-time video calls across the polar regions with end-to-end latency under one second and peak transmission speeds reaching 30 megabits per second.
