China solidified its position as a major space power in 2025, shattering its own single-year launch record with remarkable speed. In just two weeks, four Chinese rockets blasted off, propelling the nation’s total orbital missions to 72 for the year—surpassing last year’s previous record of 68 launches.
This achievement underscores China’s aggressive pursuit of space dominance, particularly as it competes fiercely with the United States, which remains the clear leader in launches this year with over 150 successful missions. While the U.S. focuses on a wide range of commercial and government projects, China appears to be prioritizing rapid expansion of its own space infrastructure.
The weekend’s launches were a potent mix of ambitious government programs and private sector innovation:
- Legacy Rockets Meet New Demands: Two Long March rockets — workhorses operated by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation — demonstrated the enduring value of this veteran launch system. On Saturday, a Long March 11H lifted three Shiyan-32 satellites into orbit. These enigmatic craft are designed to evaluate emerging space technologies, hinting at advanced capabilities under development in China. Later that evening, another Long March 12 successfully launched a batch of broadband satellites destined for the ambitious SatNet megaconstellation. When fully deployed, this network will encompass an impressive 13,000 satellites orbiting low Earth orbit (LEO), potentially revolutionizing global internet access.
- Private Players Join the Race: CAS Space’s Kinetica-1 rocket and Galactic Energy’s Ceres-1 also took to the skies on Saturday and Sunday respectively. The Kinetica-1 mission, known as Lijian-1 in China, successfully delivered two Earth-observation test satellites into LEO, marking a significant step forward for private Chinese launch capabilities. However, the Ceres-1 launch was marred by technical difficulties when its upper stage malfunctioned, tragically resulting in the loss of three satellites onboard.
Despite this setback, China’s continued push towards an unprecedented number of launches highlights its unwavering ambition to become a leading force in space exploration and technological development. The nation is undoubtedly investing heavily in both traditional government programs and fostering a robust private sector capable of competing on the global stage.
