China’s push to build broadband mega constellations could face further delays after one of the country’s leading privately developed rockets failed after take-off last week from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert.
LandSpace apologised to its unnamed clients and pledged to conduct a transparent investigation into the failure of the rocket, which successfully placed two satellites on its maiden flight in November.
According to a Beijing-based space engineer who asked not to be named because of the issue’s sensitivity, the lost payload is widely believed to consist of four experimental satellites for Guo Wang, China’s state-backed network that aims to rival SpaceX’s Starlink.
The setback came a day after LandSpace – whose only active rocket is the Zhuque-2E – was named preferred bidder to launch orbiters for the Qianfan constellation, a Shanghai-backed initiative comparable in scale to Guo Wang’s planned nearly 13,000 satellites.
Guo Wang, which aims to have 400 satellites in orbit by 2027, has so far launched 72, while Qianfan’s planned deployment of 648 by the end of this year remains stalled at 90.
