QianFan 199

Description

QianFan 199 is the seventeenth of 18 simultaneously launched Chinese communication satellites, which make up the SpaceSail Polar Group 12 mission. They are in Low Earth Orbit and have Ku, Q, and V band payloads.

These satellites are operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies for the G60 constellation with funding backed by the Shanghai local government. The initial constellation will consist of 1,296 satellites by 2027, with long-term plans to expand it to 12,000 satellites.

Each satellite weighs 300 kilograms with a ‘flat pack’ design, with a single solar array, to fit as many satellites as possible inside the rocket fairing in two parallel stacks. For maneuvering in orbit, each satellite has an electric hall-effect thruster burning krypton to generate 20 millinewtons of thrust, with a specific impulse of 1,385 seconds.

The majority of previous batch deployments flew on Chang Zheng 6A (CZ-6A) rockets out of Taiyuan, reaching near-polar orbits at altitudes of roughly 800 to 1,070 km. The constellation has drawn sustained criticism from the global astronomy community, with researchers warning that Qianfan spacecraft are visible to the naked eye and will streak photographic research images in ways that software cannot fully correct.

The standard CZ-8 configuration launched this mission. The CZ-8 is a 3.35 m-diameter, 50.34 m-tall rocket that was first launched in February. The rocket can deliver 8,100 kg to LEO using two stages, with the option to add liquid-fuelled boosters to the first stage. Each booster uses one YF-100 engine, while the first stage uses two. The second stage utilizes two YF-75 engines, burning liquid hydrogen (LH2) and LOX propellants. The boosters and first stage burn RP-1 and LOX.

This is the 7th mission of the Long March 8 (CZ-8) and the 130th orbital launch attempt of 2026.