China launches second Qianfan batch in a day
What happened
A Yinli-1 (Gravity-1) rocket launched from a sea platform off Shanghai at 2200 UTC on September 15, placing eight more Qianfan satellites and one test satellite into orbit. It was China's second Qianfan launch in under 24 hours, following a Zhuque-2E flight earlier the same day, and the fastest cadence since a roughly two-month pause ended this week. Two independent trackers, Jonathan McDowell and China-in-Space, both confirmed the flight, taking the constellation to an estimated 256 satellites.
Read-across for SES
Qianfan is one of three Chinese mega-constellations rated EXISTENTIAL-class competition for SES's sovereign-connectivity markets. Two launches inside 24 hours, on two different vehicles, is stronger evidence of a resolved production or manifest issue than a single flight, and points to a sustained cadence rather than a one-off catch-up launch.
As the brief filed it
[AGE: 6h] China launched eight more Qianfan satellites plus a test satellite from a sea-based rocket, its second Qianfan launch in under 24 hours and the fastest cadence since the summer pause.