SatNet test satellite

Overview

Destination: Polar Orbit
Mission: Communications

Polar Orbit South China Sea (launch location 3) Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

Officially described as "Satellite-Internet Technology Demonstration Satellite". Probable 1 (?) test satellite for the Chinese state-owned LEO communication satellite constellation SatNet.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • April 11, 2026, 1:30 p.m.

Launch success.


Cosmic_Penguin • April 7, 2026, 11:16 a.m.

Updated launch window per new NOTAMs.


Cosmic_Penguin • April 4, 2026, 12:12 a.m.

Added launch per NOTAMs; Launch vehicle and payload identities highly uncertain.


Smart Dragon 3

Family:
Configuration:

Smart Dragon-3 is a solid fuel orbital rocket designed by a subsidiary of the state-owned CASC group built for the commercial market.

Specifications
  • Length
    32.0 m
  • Diameter
    2.64 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    3.35 m
  • Launch Mass
    140.0 T
  • Thrust
Family
  • Name
    Smart Dragon 3
  • Family
  • Variant
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Smart Dragon 3
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
  • Low Earth Orbit
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    1500.0 kg

China Rocket Co. Ltd.

China Rocket Co. Ltd.

(CHNR)

Successes: 13 Failures: 0 Pending: 0

Agency Type:

China Rocket Co. Ltd. is a spinoff of China’s state-owned launch vehicle manufacturer using a “commercial business model”.

SpaceNews

Jielong-3 launches internet test satellite, Kinetica-1 lofts 8 remote sensing sats

A pair of solid rocket launches have added to China’s satellite internet and commercial remote sensing capabilities, sending a total of nine satellites into orbit. The post Jielong-3 launches internet test satellite, Kinetica-1 lofts 8 re…

NASASpaceflight

Launch Preview: Falcon 9 to loft Cygnus to ISS, Minotaur IV to launch from California

As NASA’s Artemis II mission reaches its halfway point, the launch manifest on Earth continues… The post Launch Preview: Falcon 9 to loft Cygnus to ISS, Minotaur IV to launch from California appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

South China Sea (launch location 3)


Kinetica 1
Success
14 hours, 12 minutes ago
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Share-ride of 9 commercial Earth observation and technology demonstration satellites to SSO, details TBD.


Falcon 9
Success
16 hours, 28 minutes ago
Starlink Group 15-27
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 2D
Success
1 day, 7 hours ago
PIESAT-2 13-16
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

4 X-band synthetic-aperture radar Earth observation satellites for the Chinese Earth observation satellite company PIESAT.


Electron
Success
1 day, 14 hours ago
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Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Success
3 days, 1 hour ago
Glonass-K1 No. 20 (?)
43/3 (43L) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Satellite serial number and Cosmos designation not confirmed. Glonass-K are the third generation of satellite design for GLONASS satellite n…


Kuaizhou 11
Success
3 days, 15 hours ago
SpaceTY-51 & 52
Launch Area 95A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

2 Earth observation radar satellites built by the Chinese satellite manufacturer SpaceTY.


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 17 hours ago
USSF-259
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

USSF-259 is a classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites based on SpaceX’s Starshield …


Long March 12
Success
3 days, 17 hours ago
SatNet LEO Group 25
Commercial LC-2 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

A batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…


Soyuz 2.1b
Success
4 days, 4 hours ago
Progress MS-35 (96P)
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station.


Gravity-1
Success
4 days, 20 hours ago
SpaceSail Polar Group #16
Yellow Sea (launch location 5) - Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites with Ku, Q and V band payloads for the G60 constellation operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies with …