On 1st June 2026 launch CNSA _China National Space Administration China, People’s Republic of China 34th Launch This Year] At 2:07 AM on May 31, 2026, a Long March-2D carrier rocket successfully launched a satellite internet technology test satellite into its predetermined orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, marking a complete success for the mission. The satellite internet technology test satellite is primarily used for testing and verifying technologies such as direct satellite broadband connections for mobile phones and the integration of space and ground networks. This launch was the 646th launch of the Long March series of carrier rockets.
📅 Mission Core Overview
This launch mission marked the 646th flight of the Long March series carrier rockets and the 105th launch of the Long March 2D carrier rocket. The mission details demonstrated an extremely high level of engineering maturity and launch frequency.
- Launch details : At 02:07 Beijing time on May 31, 2026, the Long March 2D carrier rocket was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center and successfully sent the satellite into its predetermined orbit
- Launch vehicle : The Long March 2D rocket, developed by the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, is a room-temperature liquid two-stage launch vehicle capable of launching single or multiple satellites under different orbital requirements. This mission employed a point-stacking separation mechanism and a large 4.2-meter diameter space fairing, with a payload capacity of 1.3 tons to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.
- Payload Layout : This mission adopted a “one rocket, four satellites” launch method. The four experimental satellites were jointly developed by commercial aerospace companies such as China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, and LandSpace. Among them, StarLink provided broadband communication base stations and narrowband IoT payloads for two satellites, realizing on-orbit verification of “broadband and narrowband dual-mode”
📡 Breakthrough and Validation of Core Technologies
This is not an ordinary communication test, but a crucial deep-water verification of satellite internet’s transition from “conceptual networking” to “consumer-grade applications,” focusing on two core technologies
- Direct satellite broadband connection for mobile phones : This technology aims to verify that ordinary smartphones can directly connect to satellites and access broadband internet without any special modifications or external satellite dish antennas. This technology overcomes the limitations of previous satellite communications, which were only used for low-speed emergency text messages or narrowband voice calls, and aims to achieve a broadband communication experience with downlink speeds exceeding 100Mbps
- Seamless Integration of Space-Ground Networks : The focus is on testing the intelligent switching and deep integration of space-based networks with terrestrial 5G/6G networks. By overcoming challenges such as high latency and unstable signals in space-to-ground links, the test ensures seamless cooperation between the satellite network in space and the vast ground communication network, enabling users to experience a “seamless” connection when switching between different networks.
🌍 Business Prospects and Applications in People’s Livelihoods
The successful launch of the experimental satellite lays a solid foundation for building a seamless global integrated network covering air, space, land, and sea.
- Eliminating communication blind spots : Traditional terrestrial base stations can only cover a small portion of the global land area, while satellite internet will fill communication dead zones in oceans, deserts, mountains, and remote areas. In scenarios such as disaster relief, ocean shipping, and in-flight internet, satellite networks will gradually transform from a “backup plan” into a reliable communication guarantee.6
- Supporting the “Space-Based Foundation” of 6G : Satellite internet is a crucial component of future 6G networks. This trial verified the interoperability of satellite-based base stations with the existing 5G core network, paving the way for the realization of an integrated space-air-ground network for 6G commercialization around 2030.
- Commercialization Timeline and Pricing : Industry forecasts predict that with the accumulation of trial data and the advancement of satellite constellation deployment, ordinary consumers can expect to experience high-speed internet access via direct satellite connection from their mobile phones as early as the end of 2026 to the beginning of 2027. As the scale expands, basic package pricing is expected to further decrease, potentially down to around 199 yuan per year, with data traffic unit prices kept at a low level.
🚀 Industrial Chain Resonance and Strategic Significance
This launch is not only a technological breakthrough, but also directly catalyzes the resonance of the trillion-dollar commercial aerospace industry chain and accelerates the strategic layout of the national satellite constellation.
- The entire industry chain will benefit : the advancement of technology verification directly paves the way for commercialization expectations. Upstream products such as spaceborne phased array antennas and communication RF chips (such as T/R components), midstream products such as mobile phone direct connection baseband chips, and downstream products such as ground gateway station construction and operation services will all see broader market opportunities.68
- Accelerating the Deployment of Mega-Constellations : This launch marks a crucial milestone in the high-frequency networking of national and commercial constellations such as the “GW Constellation” (China Star Network) and the “Qianfan Constellation” (G60 Starlink). The data acquired by the experimental satellite will provide critical support for the deployment of hundreds or even thousands of subsequent networking satellites, propelling China’s low-Earth orbit satellite internet towards large-scale, industrialized production.
Images and visuals are from their Respectives CMS China Manned Space CNSA-China National Space Administration