China sets a record for space rocket launch frequency

The launch sequence began at 6:11 a.m. on December 9, when the Long March 6A rocket took off from the Thai Nguyen Satellite Launch Center, delivering the Guowang network’s batch of broadband satellites into low Earth orbit. At 11:41 on the same day, the Long March 4B rocket launched the Chinese military’s mysterious Yaogan 47 satellite into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. At 11:08 p.m., the Long March 3B rocket put the secret satellite TJSW-22 into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

“The mission was a complete success,” China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the state-owned unit operating the Long March booster family, announced after the launch of the TJSW-22 satellite. “This is the third successful launch by China’s Long March rocket, setting a new record of three launches on the same day.”

According to Independent, the previous record for the fastest launch sequence ever recorded took place in March 2024, when SpaceX launched three Falcon rockets in 20 hours and 3 minutes.

The series of launches on December 9 brought the total number of China’s orbital launches this year to 83, breaking another record. China’s previous record for launches in a year was 68, set last year. However, this is not a global record. That title belongs to the US when SpaceX alone has performed 159 orbital launches this year, even setting a target of 178 launches by the end of the year.

China reached a new record in launch frequency in the context of the country’s space agency actively developing orbital infrastructure to become a space power. China currently has more than 100 Guowang satellites in operation, expected to increase to 13,000 in the coming years. Thien Cung, the country’s private space station, also reached a new milestone this year when it welcomed a rescue ship for the first time in an emergency rescue campaign for astronauts in orbit.