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Qianfan (Chinese: 千帆星座; pinyin: Qiānfān xīngzuò; lit. 'Thousand Sails Constellation'),^[1] officially known as the Spacesail Constellation^[2] and also referred to as G60 Starlink,^[3] is a planned Chinese low-Earth orbit satellite internet megaconstellation to create a system of worldwide internet coverage created by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST). The project was started in 2024 as a rival to the Starlink satellite constellation installed by SpaceX, and plans to be constituted of over 15,000 satellites by the project's end.^[4]^[5]

History

2023

The "Thousand Sails" program began with the creation of the "Shanghai Action Plan to Promote Commercial Aerospace Development and Create a Space Information Industry Highland (2023-2025)" program first announced on 20 November.^[6] The government of Shanghai raised 6.7 billion Chinese Yuan ($943 million) in funds for the construction of the project, which was initially dubbed the G60 Starlink.^[7]

The first flat panel satellite for the megaconstellation was assembled in December 2023. The satellite's facilities were allocated to the state owned Shanghai Gesi Aerospace Technology (Genesat).^[8]

2024

On 6 August 2024 at 06:42 UTC, China launched its first set of eighteen flat panel satellites associated with the project using the Long March 6A carrier vehicle, China's 35th orbital launch in the year 2024. The rocket launched from the Taiyuan Launch Complex located in the north of Shanxi Province, and brought the satellites into a polar orbit. The Chinese Academy of Sciences and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation both reported that the space mission was "a complete success".^[4]^[5] However, the United States Space Command reported that soon after the delivery of 18 satellites, the upper stage of Long March 6A broke apart and created a cloud of debris of “over 300 pieces of trackable debris in low-Earth orbit”.^[9]^[10]

Future

Based on Chinese state media China Central Television coverage, China has planned to launch and establish 648 satellites by the end of 2025 as part of the 1,296 satellites in the first phase of construction of the constellation, with the finished broadband multimedia satellite megaconstellation consisting of over 15,000 internet satellites.^[4] Of these, 108 satellites were planned to be deployed in 2024 in separate launches of 36 and 54 internet satellites each, and would operate in "Ku, Q and V" bands.^[8]

The system also planned to annex finite frequencies and orbital slots, and also provide data security.^[5] The People's Liberation Army expressed intentions of potentially using the megaconstellation for military uses akin to Starlink's utility for Ukrainian Armed Forces communications while fighting against Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[5]^[11]

Launches


Name	Launch	Orbit	Orbital apsis	Inclination	SCN	COSPAR ID	Launch site	Launcher	Status
G60 Polar Group 01 × 18	6 August 2024 06:42 UTC	Polar	813 km (505 mi)	89.0°	60379–60396	2024-140	TSLC LA-9A	Long March 6A	Operational
G60 Polar Group 02 × 18	15 October 2024 11:06 UTC	Polar		89.0°		2024-183	TSLC LA-9A	Long March 6A	Operational

Impact on astronomy

Qianfan satellites are bright, and they pose a threat to observational astronomy. At their current luminosity the spacecraft will leave streaks in photographic research images that cannot be removed by software. They would also interfere with aesthetic appreciation of the night sky because they are visible to the unaided eye. Other spacecraft operators have mitigated the brightness of the satellites to reduce their impact on astronomy.^[12]