China launches 4 different rockets to orbit in 45 hours (video)

The growing diversity and capability of China's launch sector were on display last week.

Four different Chinese orbital rockets lifted off in a 45-hour span from Tuesday (Sept. 15) to Wednesday (Sept. 16), flying from three different launch sites.

Two of the rockets were private vehicles — and all four aced their missions.

collage showing four different rockets launching — Four different Chinese rockets launched successfully over a 45-hour span from Sept. 15 to Sept. 16, 2026. (Image credit: CCTV)

The action started Tuesday at 2:26 a.m. EDT (0626 GMT), when the Beijing company LandSpace sent one of its Zhuque-2E rockets up from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

The Zhuque-2E — which burns liquid methane and liquid oxygen like SpaceX's in-development Starship megarocket — hauled 10 satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) for the Qianfan ("Thousand Sails") broadband megaconstellation. If all goes to plan, Qianfan will eventually consist of about 15,000 active spacecraft.

Another nine Qianfan satellites went up at 6:00 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT) on Tuesday atop a Gravity-1 rocket, which launched from a barge off the coast of Shanghai.

The Gravity-1, operated by the company Orienspace, is the world's most powerful solid rocket — though it's probably better known for its almost comically squat and stubby profile.

a short, stubby white rocket launches from a ship at sea — An Orienspace Gravity-1 rocket launches from a sea-based platform on Sept. 15, 2026. (Image credit: CCTV)

Next up was a Long March 12 rocket, which is flown by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

It lifted off on Wednesday at 8:32 p.m. EDT (0032 GMT on Sept. 17) from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the island of Hainan and carried nine spacecraft for another Chinese LEO broadband megaconstellation called SatNet, which is envisioned to harbor about 13,000 satellites.

A Kuaizhou-11 rocket finished the four-flight flurry about two hours later, launching from Jiuquan at 10:40 p.m. EDT (0240 GMT on Sept. 17).

The vehicle, which is operated by a subsidiary of the state-run China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, carried two Earth-observing radar satellites for the Chinese company Spacety.

overhead drone photo of a white rocket launching from a desert pad — A LandSpace Zhuque-2E rocket launches 10 broadband satellites to orbit on Sept. 15, 2026. (Image credit: CCTV)

The quartet of launches didn't give us a full picture of China's launch ambitions, however, for none of the four rockets attempted a landing.

The nation is working hard to develop reusable rockets and has already made considerable progress on this front. In the last 2.5 months, two different vehicles — LandSpace's Zhuque-3 and CASC's Long March 10B — have successfully landed their first stages during orbital missions. No Chinese first stage has flown multiple orbital missions thus far, but that box could be checked fairly soon.

Michael Wall is the Spaceflight and Tech Editor for Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers human and robotic spaceflight, military space, and exoplanets, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.