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China accelerates LEO satellite deployment with two launches in 12 days, but gap remains in launchpad efficiency, rocket reusability: expert_我的网站

中国繁育最美蛇

A | 　　讯 8月21日，国务院新闻办公室举行“开局起步‘十五五’”系列主题新闻发布会，介绍发挥积极财政政策作用，推动经济社会高质量发展有关情况。

The 24th group of the low-orbit internet satellites aboard a Long March-12 carrier rocket is launched at 12:10 pm on August 16, 2026 from a commercial spacecraft launch site in the southern island province of Hainan. Photo: VCG
Two successful launches among China's recent frequent moves caught particular attention of space watchers - the 24th group of low-Earth orbit internet (LEO) satellites aboard a Long March-12 rocket was sent from a commercial spacecraft launch site in the southern island province of Hainan on Sunday, 12 days after the 23rd group of LEO satellites aboard a Long March-8A rocket was launched from the same Hainan site on August 4.
Sunday's mission marked the 663rd launch of the Long March series of carrier rockets, which on Monday sent an SEO satellite into preset orbit, per Xinhua.
Experts said the launches of two groups of LEO satellites within 12 days underlined that China is notably accelerating its pace of building its satellite internet constellation.
"The launch of LEO satellites has now entered a regular and cyclical rhythm, with batches of satellites continuously being sent into orbit at relatively stable intervals," Kang Guohua, a senior member of the Chinese Society of Astronautics and a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, told the Global Times on Monday.
China launched the first group of LEO internet satellites on December 16, 2024, proceeding to the 24th batch in about 20 months. Kang said three major production and launch "assembly lines" are supporting the effort: satellite factories featuring centralized design in Beijing, coordinated supply chains and mass production; rockets with streamlined launch and testing procedures and multiple configurations; and launch sites capable of supporting routine constellation deployment.
The Long March-12, which played a key role in the latest LEO satellite launch, is China's first 4-meter-class single-core-stage carrier rocket and was specifically developed for commercial launch needs. It is about 62.6 meters long, has a liftoff mass of 430 tons and can carry more than 12 tons to low-Earth orbit. Its first stage is equipped with four 1,250-kilonewton pump-fed liquid oxygen-kerosene engines and uses a newly developed coal-based aerospace kerosene, according to Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology.
The rocket adopts a "three-horizontal" launch preparation model: horizontal assembly, horizontal testing and horizontal transportation. Depending on mission requirements, it can use fairings with diameters of 4.2 or 5.2 meters and support both single-satellite and multi-satellite launches into different orbits.
"This flexibility makes the Long March-12 particularly suitable for the 'one rocket, multiple satellites' model required for constellation deployment, making it one of the main launch vehicles currently used for LEO constellation missions," Kang said.
The mission also highlighted the launch site's growing ability to support high-frequency launches. The rocket took only two and a half days from being transported to the launch area to liftoff, setting a record for the shortest time a rocket occupied the launch position at the site, Kang said.
Despite the rapid progress, experts cautioned that the 228 satellites currently in orbit remain some distance from the ultimate goal. China's satellite internet project has a long-term goal of deploying nearly 8,000 satellites and is now in an accelerated "weaving" phase.
China's advantage lies in its ability to control costs and boost production efficiency once satellite manufacturing reaches mass-production scale, another expert surnamed Liu told the Global Times.
"Whether it is the production capacity of AI centers or the factory in Hainan, which has an annual satellite manufacturing capacity of 1,000 units, satellite production itself is not the problem," Liu said. "More bottlenecks lie in the operational efficiency of launch pads and the rocket payload and recovery technology."
The real challenge lies in rocket reusability. Only by lowering launch costs and increasing launch frequency can China sustain a pace of more than one launch per week. This is also the strategic significance of accelerating the development of reusable rocket technology, including the Long March-10B and privately developed rockets, Kang further noted.
Chinese Academy of Engineering academician Deng Zhongliang previously said in an interview that satellite internet will serve as an indispensable space-time infrastructure for 6G, enabling emerging industries worth trillions of yuan, including the low-altitude economy, advanced autonomous driving and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The 23rd group of low-orbit internet satellites aboard a Long March-8A carrier rocket is launched on August 4, 2026 from a commercial spacecraft launch site in the southern island province of Hainan. Photo: VCG

The 23rd group of low-orbit internet satellites aboard a Long March-8A carrier rocket is launched on August 4, 2026 from a commercial spacecraft launch site in the southern island province of Hainan. Photo: VCG
。　　财政部预算司司长王新祥在会上介绍，绿色发展是高质量发展的底色，良好的生态环境是最普惠的民生福祉。近年来，财政部门强化资金投入、优化政策体系，支持推动生态环境实现根本性转变。

B | 据统计，“十四五”时期，中央财政累计下达污染防治和生态文明建设相关资金超过2.3万亿元。

C | 　　王新祥表示，“十五五”时期，财政部门将锚定目标、久久为功，优化财政资源配置，全力推进美丽中国建设。重点开展以下几项工作：　　一是推动如期实现2030年前碳达峰目标。统筹运用各类资金，推动产业、能源、交通结构调整优化。支持可再生能源行业健康有序发展，促进能源供给更加清洁高效。启动氢能综合应用试点，推动氢能场景从交通领域向更多领域延伸。

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