A Long March 6A blasted off from Launch Complex 9A at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 17:30 pm Beijing time on July 4th, heading for a near-polar orbit with a group of connectivity satellites.

Axar.az informs, citing China in Space, those were the thirteenth overall group of the Qianfan constellation, consisting of eighteen satellites manufactured by Genesat for the fifth contract with the commercial space firm. With this deployment, Qianfan has seen 218 satellites delivered into orbit.

The Qianfa mega-constellation, sometimes referred to as SpaceSail, is operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co Ltd , aiming to provide space-based internet connectivity services in China and abroad in places including Brazil, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Turkiye, and via airlines, around the fourth quarter of this year. As of December 2025, the deployment aims to have 324 satellites launched in 20261, while contracted manufacturers have been encouraged to hasten production.

Costing under 10 million Yuan (1.47 million United States Dollars, as of July 4th), each Qianfan 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.

It should be noted that this was the 655th launch in the Long March rocket series.