Track China's Qianfan constellation

azmth currently tracks 257 Qianfan (Thousand Sails) satellites in CelesTrak's active catalogue, as of 27 October 2026. Data from CelesTrak, refreshed every 2 hours.

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Qianfan, also called Thousand Sails or the G60 constellation, is China's large low-Earth-orbit broadband network, with thousands of satellites planned. azmth tracks every Qianfan satellite currently in orbit on a live 3D globe, with orbital data from CelesTrak refreshed every 2 hours.

Also called 千帆星座 (Qianfan Xingzuo), 千帆 (Qianfan), 全球多媒体卫星系统 (Quanqiu Duomeiti Weixing Xitong), G60星链 (G60 Xinglian)

As of 14 September 2026, Qianfan is a Chinese state-backed satellite broadband constellation in low Earth orbit that is still being deployed: no Qianfan launch had been catalogued since 5 July 2026, and azmth found no report of commercial service starting.

TL;DR· 10 min read

Qianfan (千帆, 'Thousand Sails') is a low-Earth-orbit satellite internet constellation run by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology, a company backed by the Shanghai municipal government that trades as Spacesail. Its first 238 satellites went up on 14 launches between 6 August 2024 and 5 July 2026, and on 10 September 2026 the independent tracker Jonathan McDowell counted 22 of them as failed. CelesTrak's active catalogue lists 257 Qianfan satellites, including, in September 2026, some that never reached their working orbit. The operator's announced target is 324 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026, and as of 14 September 2026 azmth found no report of commercial service starting.

257

in CelesTrak's active catalogue now

as of 27 October 2026

satellites counted as failed by Jonathan McDowell, out of 239 he lists in orbit

as of 10 September 2026 · source

324

operator's announced in-orbit target for the end of 2026

as of July 2026 · source

What Qianfan is

Qianfan, in Chinese 千帆星座 (Qianfan Xingzuo, 'Thousand Sails Constellation'), is a Chinese satellite broadband network in low Earth orbit. It is run by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (上海垣信卫星科技有限公司), which trades as Spacesail and is backed by the Shanghai municipal government. Its broadband satellites fly in near-polar orbits inclined at about 89 degrees, with an operational shell at about 1,069 km, and the first 18 were launched on 6 August 2024. Plans reported in Chinese media put the final size of the network at more than 15,000 satellites.

Qianfan satellites are flat panels stacked inside the rocket, usually 18 to a launch. The first three launches, on 6 August, 15 October and 5 December 2024, all used Long March 6A rockets from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. A fourth followed on 23 January 2025, and on 12 March 2025 (Beijing time) Spacesail used a Long March 8 from the Hainan Commercial Spacecraft Launch Site for the first time. Launches then stopped for about seven months until 17 October 2025, which brought the total launched to 108, and stopped again for almost six months until 7 April 2026. Eight launches between 7 April and 5 July 2026 added 130 satellites, including 2 on the maiden flight of the Long March 12B on 1 June and 20 on a Long March 8A on 5 July, for 238 launched in all. CelesTrak's catalogue shows no further Qianfan launch up to 11 September 2026, and azmth found no explanation for the gap.

Chinese launch reports use two numbering schemes that do not match. The China National Space Administration and Xinhua usually name each launch by its polar-orbit group (千帆极轨NN组), while the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Shanghai's state-owned assets commission and the Chinese Academy of Sciences microsatellite institute count batches (第N批) in launch order. The group labels do not follow launch order: the fourth launch carried group 06, the sixth carried group 18 and the tenth carried group 08. CelesTrak uses neither scheme and numbers the satellites from QIANFAN-1 upwards in the order they were launched.

Not every satellite launched reached its working orbit. After the second launch on 15 October 2024, Shanghai's state-owned assets commission reported all 18 satellites in normal condition, but an independent analysis of public orbital data posted on Sohu in December 2024 found that several had stopped raising their orbits at scattered altitudes in late November. In CelesTrak's catalogue on 14 September 2026, 18 Qianfan satellites carried the status 'partially operational', with perigees of 789 to 968 km, below the working shell, and 13 of them came from that second launch. The independent tracker Jonathan McDowell listed 22 as failed on 10 September 2026, including 16 of the 18 from the second launch. China in Space reported in October 2025 that satellites had drifted from their orbital planes, that some appeared to be tumbling, and that no official update had been given.

The first launch also left a cloud of debris. The upper stage of its Long March 6A broke apart soon after releasing the satellites in August 2024, and US Space Command reported more than 300 trackable pieces at the time. By 14 September 2026 CelesTrak listed 705 debris objects from that launch, 129 of which had re-entered.

Published deployment plans have changed several times and are targets. In May 2024 Spacesail senior vice president Lu Ben described 648 satellites for regional coverage by the end of 2025, 648 more for global coverage by the end of 2027 and 15,000 by the end of 2030; 108 had been launched by the end of 2025. Later Chinese reports give phase one as 1,296 satellites completed in 2027 (21st Century Business Herald, June 2026) or as 648 satellites (C114, August 2026). In July 2026 vice president Xu Yunxiang said the goal was 324 satellites in orbit within 2026, which would need 86 more than the 238 launched by 5 July, and in August 2026 C114 reported chief executive Shen Hongbo saying the 324-satellite first phase would be complete by the end of 2026.

The operating company was founded in Shanghai in March 2018, and Shanghai's state-owned assets commission describes it as a company under Shanghai Lianhe Investment. Jiefang Daily reported in August 2024 that the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Shanghai Engineering Center for Microsatellites was responsible for building 324 of the phase-one satellites, and Genesat (格思航天) developed the fifth batch. A Series A round of 6.7 billion yuan, led by the China Development Bank Manufacturing Transformation and Upgrade Fund, was announced on 1 February 2024. Financial disclosures reported by 21st Century Business Herald and C114 show revenue of no more than about 1.15 million yuan a year from 2022 to 2024, net losses of 0.2 billion, 0.49 billion and 0.81 billion yuan in those years, and zero revenue in the first quarter of 2026. In June 2026 the company updated a capital-increase listing on the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange, seeking up to 15 billion yuan. C114 reported in August 2026 that the round had raised about 6.98 billion yuan and excluded foreign capital, a closing figure azmth could not confirm from a second source.

How to find them on the globe

CelesTrak lists each constellation satellite as QIANFAN followed by a number, starting at QIANFAN-1 and counting up in launch order with no link to the official group numbers. The June 2026 direct-to-phone test satellite, which Jonathan McDowell's catalogue identifies as Qianfan DTC 01, still appeared in CelesTrak under the temporary name DTC TEST OBJECT A in September 2026, so a count of QIANFAN names leaves it out.

Coverage and service

As of 14 September 2026, azmth found no report of commercial Qianfan service starting anywhere, and the financial data the operator published with its capital-increase listing showed zero revenue for the first quarter of 2026. Testing has included a demonstration aboard the cruise ship Gulangyu in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour on 1 January 2025 under a temporary test permit, and trials in Malaysia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan reported by Shanghai Securities News in December 2025. In Brazil, Teletime reported that the regulator Anatel approved Qianfan on 12 February 2026 for up to 324 initial satellites, with rights valid until July 2031 and up to two years to start operating, and that Spacesail planned to begin commercial operation there in the fourth quarter of 2026; Spacesail had signed a cooperation memorandum with the state telecom company Telebras in November 2024. Spacesail has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia's MEASAT (reported February 2025), a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Thailand's National Telecom (April 2025) and a market cooperation agreement with Airbus on in-flight connectivity (December 2025), but azmth found no report of customer service under any of them. For 2026, vice president Xu Yunxiang gave the goal as the capability to offer 'preliminary commercial service' to customers, while chief executive Shen Hongbo was reported in August 2026 as saying the 324-satellite first phase would be complete at the end of 2026, when worldwide service and commercial operation would start. Separately, a direct-to-phone test satellite launched on 9 June 2026, and Spacesail says it used it on 19 June 2026 to make a 5G-standard voice and video call with unmodified commercial phones.

What we know

Operator: 上海垣信卫星科技有限公司 (short name 垣信卫星) as of June 2026 · miit.gov.cn
Operator's English name: Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), trading as Spacesail as of September 2026 · space.skyrocket.de
Ownership: A company under Shanghai Lianhe Investment, according to Shanghai's state-owned assets commission as of December 2025 · gzw.sh.gov.cn
Company founded: March 2018, Shanghai as of June 2026 · 21jingji.com
First launch: 6 August 2024, 14:42 Beijing time: a Long March 6A launched Qianfan Polar Orbit Group 01, 18 satellites, from Taiyuan as of August 2024 · cnsa.gov.cn
Constellation satellites launched: 238 on 14 launches between 6 August 2024 and 5 July 2026, plus one direct-to-phone test satellite launched separately as of 14 September 2026 · celestrak.org
Working, per independent tracking: As of 10 September 2026, 239 in orbit counting the direct-to-phone test satellite: 217 working (177 of them in the operational shell, the rest still raising their orbits or drifting) and 22 failed (Jonathan McDowell) as of 10 September 2026 · planet4589.org
CelesTrak status flags: 18 QIANFAN satellites flagged partially operational, with perigees of 789 to 968 km as of 14 September 2026 · celestrak.org
Orbit: Near-polar, inclined about 89 degrees, with an operational shell at about 1,069 km as of 10 September 2026 · planet4589.org
Frequency bands: Ku, Q/V and other bands, with space radio station and radio frequency use licences issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as of June 2026 · miit.gov.cn
ITU filing: SAILSPACE-1 advance publication information (CHN2025-79394), received 25 December 2025 as of December 2025 · itu.int
Stated long-term plan: More than 15,000 satellites in three phases, as reported by C114 in August 2026 (a target; reports from 2024 to 2026 give phase one as 324, 648 or 1,296 satellites) as of August 2026 · finance.sina.com.cn
Revenue, first quarter 2026: Zero as of June 2026 · m.caixin.com

Timeline

1 February 2024
Spacesail announced a Series A round of 6.7 billion yuan led by the China Development Bank Manufacturing Transformation and Upgrade Fund. chinaventure.com.cn
6 August 2024
A Long March 6A launched the first 18 satellites, Qianfan Polar Orbit Group 01, from Taiyuan. cnsa.gov.cn
15 October 2024
A Long March 6A launched Group 02, 18 satellites, from Taiyuan. Shanghai's state-owned assets commission reported all of them in normal condition. gzw.sh.gov.cn
20 November 2024
Spacesail signed a cooperation memorandum with Brazil's state telecom company Telebras, under which it aimed to provide commercial service in Brazil in 2026. finance.sina.com.cn
5 December 2024
A Long March 6A launched Group 03 from Taiyuan. cnsa.gov.cn
23 December 2024
An independent analysis of public orbital data, posted on Sohu, reported that satellites from the October 2024 launch (Group 02) had stopped raising their orbits at scattered altitudes in late November 2024. sohu.com
1 January 2025
Spacesail demonstrated satellite internet over Qianfan aboard the cruise ship Gulangyu in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, under a temporary test permit. ofca.gov.hk
23 January 2025
The fourth launch, a Long March 6A from Taiyuan, carried Group 06, 18 satellites. spacechina.com
7 February 2025
A memorandum of understanding between Spacesail and Malaysia's MEASAT Global Berhad was reported. cww.net.cn
12 March 2025
The fifth batch of 18 launched at 00:38 Beijing time (11 March UTC) on a Long March 8 from the Hainan Commercial Spacecraft Launch Site, Spacesail's first use of that rocket. gzw.sh.gov.cn
24 April 2025
Spacesail signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with National Telecom of Thailand. finance.sina.com.cn
17 October 2025
After a gap of about seven months, a Long March 6A launched Group 18, the sixth batch of 18, from Taiyuan, bringing the total launched to 108. chinanews.com.cn
4 December 2025
Spacesail signed a market cooperation agreement with Airbus to add Qianfan connectivity to Airbus in-flight connectivity products. gzw.sh.gov.cn
25 December 2025
The ITU received China's advance publication filing SAILSPACE-1 (CHN2025-79394) for Shanghai Spacesail. itu.int
12 February 2026
Teletime reported that Brazil's regulator Anatel approved Qianfan for up to 324 initial satellites, with rights valid until July 2031. teletime.com.br
7 April 2026
Launches resumed: a Long March 8 carried the seventh batch of 18 from the Hainan Commercial Spacecraft Launch Site. news.cn
12 May 2026
A Long March 6A launched Group 09, the eighth batch, from Taiyuan. news.cn
17 May 2026
A Long March 8 launched the ninth batch from the Hainan Commercial Spacecraft Launch Site. news.cn
1 June 2026
The first flight of the Long March 12B carried the tenth batch, 2 satellites, from Jiuquan. miit.gov.cn
4 June 2026
A Long March 6A launched Group 11 from Taiyuan. app.xinhuanet.com
5 June 2026
A Long March 8 launched Group 12 from the Hainan Commercial Spacecraft Launch Site, bringing the total launched to 200. cnsa.gov.cn
9 June 2026
A Zhuque-2E launched Spacesail's direct-to-phone test satellite Qianfan DTC01 together with China Mobile 02. cnsa.gov.cn
19 June 2026
Spacesail says it made China's first 5G-standard voice and video call over a direct-to-phone satellite link, using unmodified commercial phones and its test satellite. shkjdw.gov.cn
22 June 2026
Spacesail updated its capital-increase plan on the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange, seeking up to 15 billion yuan. m.caixin.com
4 July 2026
A Long March 6A launched Group 13 from Taiyuan. news.cn
5 July 2026
A Long March 8A carried 20 satellites, the most on any Qianfan launch, bringing the total launched to 238. finance.sina.com.cn
9 July 2026
Vice president Xu Yunxiang said 238 satellites were in orbit and set a goal of 324 in orbit within 2026. shkjdw.gov.cn
10 September 2026
Jonathan McDowell's tracking counted 22 Qianfan satellites as failed and 177 at operational altitude. planet4589.org

Commonly got wrong

(1) Chinese official, operator and media figures for satellites 'in orbit' or 'operating' are the number launched, and they include satellites that failed. Jiemian News reported in April 2025, quoting Spacesail senior vice president Lu Ben, that 90 Qianfan satellites were operating in orbit, when 90 was the number launched; Jonathan McDowell's catalogue counts 21 of those 90 as failed and CelesTrak flags 17 of them as partially operational. Shanghai's state-owned assets commission likewise reported all 18 satellites of the October 2024 launch in normal condition, and McDowell now counts 16 of those 18 as failed.
(2) The name Qianfan is shared with unrelated things. Google's search suggestions for 'qianfan' also offer Baidu's Qianfan AI platform and qianfan-ocr, which have nothing to do with satellites. The nickname G60星链, often rendered 'G60 Starlink', is another name for Qianfan itself, according to Jiefang Daily on the Shanghai government portal. Searches for 'a thousand sails 2020' may have the date wrong: the first satellites launched on 6 August 2024, according to the China National Space Administration.
(3) Some Chinese financial media give the wrong date for the sixth launch. Tencent News (April 2026) and Securities Times (May 2026) date it to 30 July 2025 and describe a seven-month gap before April 2026. CCTV's report carried by China News Service, the Chinese Academy of Sciences microsatellite institute and CelesTrak all date that launch (Group 18) to 17 October 2025, so the gap before 7 April 2026 was just under six months.
(4) Schedule targets are often repeated as if they were settled. In May 2024 Spacesail's Lu Ben said 648 satellites would be in orbit by the end of 2025 (Cailian Press), but CelesTrak shows 108 launched by then. A Xinhua and CCTV feature in June 2026 gave the phase-one target as 324 satellites before July 2026 and, in the same article, as 1,296 by 2027; 238 had been launched by 5 July 2026. The operator's latest target, given by vice president Xu Yunxiang in July 2026 and repeated by chief executive Shen Hongbo in August 2026, is 324 in orbit by the end of 2026, and no Qianfan launch was catalogued between 5 July and 11 September 2026.

Sources

Checked on 14 September 2026. Sources in Chinese and Portuguese were read in their own language and translated for this page; where official statements and independent tracking disagree, both are given. The live count above comes from the catalogue, not from this research.

Frequently asked

Is Qianfan operational?

Not as a commercial service yet. CelesTrak's active catalogue lists 257 Qianfan satellites, but in September 2026 that figure included satellites flagged partially operational that never reached their working orbit. On 10 September 2026 Jonathan McDowell counted 22 as failed and 177 in the operational shell, with the other 40 of his 239 still raising their orbits or drifting. As of 14 September 2026 azmth found no report of commercial service starting.

What altitude do Qianfan satellites fly at?

Satellites in the operational shell fly in near-polar orbits at about 1,069 km, inclined about 89 degrees (Jonathan McDowell, September 2026). The 18 satellites CelesTrak flags as partially operational sit lower, with perigees of 789 to 968 km, and satellites from the July 2026 launches were still raising their orbits in September 2026. An altitude of about 1,160 km, given in some articles such as KeepTrack's, does not match where the satellites are observed, and azmth found no operator source for it. Jiefang Daily reported in August 2024 that later satellites are planned to fly at 300 and 500 km for direct-to-phone and Internet of Things services.

Is Spacesail the same as Qianfan?

They are related names for different things. Spacesail is the brand of the operating company, Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (上海垣信卫星科技有限公司, often shortened to 垣信卫星). Qianfan, or Thousand Sails, is its satellite constellation, whose formal system name is the Global Multimedia Satellite System. English-language reports also use Spacesail as a name for the constellation itself.

When was the first Qianfan launch?

At 14:42 Beijing time on 6 August 2024, a Long March 6A rocket launched the first 18 satellites, Qianfan Polar Orbit Group 01, from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, according to the China National Space Administration. CelesTrak lists them as QIANFAN-1 to QIANFAN-18.

Can I buy Qianfan satellite internet?

Not on the evidence available on 14 September 2026. azmth found no report of commercial service open to customers, and the operator's financial disclosure showed zero revenue for the first quarter of 2026. Teletime reported that Spacesail planned to start commercial operation in Brazil in the fourth quarter of 2026, and its chief executive was reported in August 2026 as saying worldwide service would begin at the end of 2026.

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