Long March 12 Guowang Satellites Launch Explained: 9 Satellites, 240 in Orbit and the Philippines Debris Warning
A Long March 12 rocket lifts off from Wenchang (Y2 flight, May 2025). The 9 November flight (Y11) used the same rocket to carry the 29th group of Guowang internet satellites. Image: China News Service via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
📌 Key Highlights
- A Long March 12 (Y11) lifted off from Wenchang, Hainan, at 4:24 a.m. Beijing time on Monday, 9 November 2026, carrying nine Guowang satellites into low Earth orbit.
- The nine satellites form the 29th group of China's Guowang broadband constellation, bringing the total in orbit to about 240 of a planned 12,992.
- The Philippine Space Agency warned that rocket debris could fall 25 nautical miles from Puerto Princesa and 19 nautical miles from the Tubbataha Reefs — and told fishers not to touch any debris.
- It was the tenth flight of the Long March 12 and the 676th flight of the Long March rocket family.
- China's launch pace still trails what international rules demand: about half the 12,992-satellite constellation must be in orbit by around 2031–2032.
What happened?
China successfully launched the 29th group of satellites for its low-Earth-orbit satellite internet constellation on Monday, 9 November 2026. A Long March 12 carrier rocket blasted off at 4:24 a.m. Beijing time (1:54 a.m. IST) from the Hainan commercial space launch site in Wenchang, sending the satellites into their preset orbit, according to CGTN.
The nine satellites belong to Guowang — Mandarin for "national network" — the broadband constellation operated by the state-owned China Satellite Network Group (China SatNet). They were built by the China Academy of Space Technology and each weighs about 695 kilograms. After deployment, about 240 Guowang satellites are now in space, according to the specialist tracker china-in-space.com.
The mission had been scheduled for 5 November and slipped twice before flying on 9 November. It was the tenth flight of the Long March 12, nearly two years after the rocket's debut in November 2024, and the 676th flight of the Long March rocket family.
The rocket and the satellites
The Long March 12 is China's newest medium-lift workhorse for the constellation programme. It is a two-stage rocket, about 62 metres tall with a 3.8-metre-diameter core — the first Chinese single-core rocket in the 4-metre class. Its first stage is powered by four YF-100K engines burning liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene, producing a combined thrust of about 510 tonnes. It can place 12 tonnes in low Earth orbit and at least 6 tonnes into a 700-kilometre sun-synchronous orbit.
A Long March 12 being raised at the Wenchang commercial launch site. The rocket has flown only from Wenchang so far. Image: Luo Hongyang via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
| Mission fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Rocket | Long March 12 Y11 (10th flight of the vehicle) |
| Launch time | 4:24 a.m. Beijing time, 9 November 2026 (1:54 a.m. IST) |
| Launch site | Commercial Launch Pad 2, Wenchang, Hainan |
| Payload | 9 Guowang satellites (SatNet LEO Group 29), ~695 kg each |
| Guowang total in orbit | About 240 after this launch |
| Planned constellation | 12,992 satellites (ITU filings) |
| Long March family flights | 676th mission overall |
Why the Philippines issued a debris warning
Every Long March 12 launch from Wenchang flies east over the sea, and its lower stages fall in drop zones off the Philippines. Before this launch, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) circulated a pre-launch advisory based on a Notice to Airmen, and on Monday it warned that debris may have fallen in Philippine waters.
PhilSA said debris was projected to fall 25 nautical miles (about 46 km) from Puerto Princesa in Palawan and 19 nautical miles (about 35 km) from the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The agency said the fragments were not expected to hit any landmass or inhabited area, but warned they could endanger ships, planes and fishing vessels crossing the drop zone, and that some debris may float and wash toward nearby shores.
The advice is blunt: report suspected debris to local authorities, do not retrieve it, and do not come into close contact with it — it may contain remnants of toxic substances such as rocket fuel. PhilSA also noted that an uncontrolled re-entry of the rocket's upper stages into the atmosphere is possible. "As global launch rates continue to accelerate, debris shed during staging events and the uncontrolled re-entry of large rocket upper stages pose growing hazards — not only to other spacecraft, but to civil aviation and to populations on the ground," the agency said.
The bigger race: Guowang vs the clock
Guowang is China's state-backed answer to SpaceX's Starlink: a planned 12,992-satellite broadband network meant to provide internet connectivity worldwide, starting with domestic use in China. But the numbers show how far the programme still has to go.
Under Resolution 35, adopted at the International Telecommunication Union's World Radiocommunication Conference in 2019, operators of non-geostationary constellations must meet deployment milestones to protect their spectrum rights. For Guowang, that points to a deadline of around 2031–2032 by which roughly half the constellation — about 6,496 of 12,992 satellites — must be deployed and operating. At the current pace of nine satellites per Long March 12 mission, roughly monthly, that vehicle alone adds only about 108 satellites a year — roughly one-tenth of the roughly 1,044 a year the deadline implies, according to TechTimes' analysis of the programme.
China is not relying on one rocket. Guowang satellites have also flown on the Long March 5B, Long March 8A and Long March 6A, and the programme expects to deploy about 310 satellites in 2026, then 900 in 2027 and 3,600 a year from 2028. Even so, no general broadband service from Guowang has been reported yet — domestic usage trials and agreements are under way ahead of a rollout starting in China.
| Guowang by the numbers | Figure |
|---|---|
| Satellite groups launched | 29 (latest: 9 November 2026) |
| Satellites in orbit | About 240 |
| Planned constellation size | 12,992 satellites |
| Satellites per Long March 12 flight | 9 |
| Orbital shells (ITU filings) | About 500–1,145 km altitude |
| ITU milestone | ~50% deployed by about 2031–2032 |
| Service status | Domestic trials; no general service reported yet |
Why it matters for Indian readers
India sits in the middle of this race in three ways. First, satellite broadband is heading to India: Starlink's entry and domestic efforts such as Jio-SES mean the price and quality of satellite internet here will be shaped by how many constellations reach real scale — Guowang is the largest state-backed challenger to Starlink, even if it is years from serving Indian users.
Second, the debris warning is a regional problem, not a Philippines-only one. The South China Sea and the waters around Palawan sit on some of the world's busiest shipping and aviation lanes, used by vessels and flights across Asia, including from India. As launch rates climb, staging debris and uncontrolled upper-stage re-entries become a routine hazard for everyone sharing those skies and seas — which is why PhilSA is calling for coordinated regional protocols.
Third, the launch cadence itself is the story to watch. China has now flown more than 70 space launches in 2026, and Guowang's deployment rate will decide whether a second mega-constellation genuinely rivals Starlink — or stays a domestic project. India's own space economy, from ISRO to private startups building in low Earth orbit, operates in the same increasingly crowded environment.
Should you care?
FAQs
How many Guowang satellites are in orbit now?
About 240, after the nine satellites launched on 9 November 2026. The constellation is planned to reach 12,992 satellites, so it is still under 2% complete.
What is the Guowang constellation?
Guowang ("national network") is China SatNet's low-Earth-orbit broadband constellation, a state-owned project intended to provide satellite internet worldwide, starting with domestic use in China. It is China's largest answer to SpaceX's Starlink.
Did rocket debris fall near the Philippines?
The Philippine Space Agency said debris from the Long March 12 launch was projected to fall in waters 25 nautical miles from Puerto Princesa and 19 nautical miles from the Tubbataha Reefs. It is not expected to have hit land or inhabited areas, but PhilSA warned ships and fishers and told the public not to touch suspected debris.
How does Guowang compare to Starlink?
Guowang plans 12,992 satellites but has about 240 in orbit and no general service yet, while Starlink has been launching since 2019 and operates a far larger fleet with live customers. Guowang's challenge is launch pace: it must deploy roughly half its constellation by about 2031–2032 to keep its spectrum rights.
Takeaway: The Long March 12's tenth flight put nine more Guowang satellites in orbit and pushed China's constellation past 240 — steady progress, but the ITU clock is ticking much faster than the launch rate. And with every launch, the Philippines gets another debris warning.
For the previous chapter of this story, read our explainer on the October Long March 8A Guowang launch, our coverage of China's other internet constellation, Qianfan, and AST SpaceMobile's Blacklift rocket.
Sources
- CGTN — China launches new low-orbit internet satellite group
- china-in-space.com — Tenth Long March 12 Adds to GuoWang Constellation
- GMA News — Chinese rocket debris may have fallen near Palawan, Tubbataha waters — PhilSA
- TechTimes — Long March 12 Hits 10 Flights. China Needs to Launch Its Guowang Satellites 10 Times Faster to Keep Its ITU Spectrum Rights
- Wikipedia — Long March 12
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