According to reports from Yicai, China’s commercial space sector has entered a period of intensive launches. In the past 25 days, our country has conducted nine rocket launches, of which five launches served the State Grid Constellation (GW Constellation), a broadband internet satellite project led by China Satellite Network Group, which is regarded as the “Chinese version of Starlink.” Similar to SpaceX’s Starlink, the GW Constellation also requires large-scale networking to achieve global coverage.
In fact, the networking process of the GW Constellation is continuously accelerating.
On December 16, 2024, the GW Constellation completed its first batch of networking satellites with a “one rocket, ten satellites” launch, officially kicking off the construction of the constellation.
Entering 2025, the launch pace has significantly increased. On February 11, the low Earth orbit 02 group of satellites was launched; on April 29, the low Earth orbit 03 group of satellites was successfully launched; on June 6, the low Earth orbit 04 group of satellites successfully entered their designated orbits. Especially in July and August, the launch frequency reached new heights. On July 27 and July 30, the fifth and sixth batches of satellites were launched successively, achieving a high-density networking rhythm of “two launches in three days”; on August 4, the Long March 12 rocket successfully sent the 07 group of satellites into orbit.
GW Constellation is China’s first large-scale satellite internet plan and also the country’s first integrated space-ground 6G internet plan. It includes two sub-constellations: GW-A59 and GW-A2, forming a global internet satellite constellation, which will eventually introduce a direct satellite communication mode for mobile phones. A total of 12,992 satellites are planned for launch, with 6,080 satellites in the GW-A59 sub-constellation distributed in ultra-low orbits below 500 km; and 6,912 satellites in the GW-A2 sub-constellation distributed in near-Earth orbits at 1,145 km.
As the GW Constellation’s networking continues to advance, our country is gradually building a self-controllable “space information highway” in the satellite internet field. Once fully completed, the GW Constellation will provide high-speed, low-latency internet services to global users, significantly improving network access in remote areas and oceans where traditional networks are difficult to cover, and will play a key role in various fields such as intelligent transportation, telemedicine, and national defense security, effectively promoting the development and transformation of related industries.
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