{"id":62296,"date":"2025-08-06T09:36:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T09:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/62296\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T09:36:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T09:36:08","slug":"chinas-rocket-shortage-means-it-may-have-to-pick-a-favoured-candidate-to-take-on-starlink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/62296\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s rocket shortage means it may have to pick a favoured candidate to take on Starlink"},"content":{"rendered":"<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">As China scrambles to build massive internet networks in space to rival Starlink, a growing divide is quietly emerging on the ground between national priorities and local ambition.<\/p>\n<p>The country appears to be <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/science\/article\/3291650\/how-launch-chinas-guowang-satellites-differs-its-us-starlink-rival?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">fast-tracking the roll-out<\/a> of Guo Wang, a state-run 13,000-satellite constellation slated for completion within a decade, tightening control over launch resources and leaving other projects in limbo.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Often known as Beijing\u2019s answer to SpaceX\u2019s Starlink, Guo Wang has launched three batches of satellites in the past week alone \u2013 a sharp jump from its earlier pace of about one batch every two months.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1o401188 css-1w1l3op e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CLEAN-thumb.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-qa=\"SCMPYoutubeVideoPreview-PreviewDuration\" class=\"css-1vqvq42 e1o401181\">01:25<\/p>\n<p data-qa=\"SCMPYoutubeVideoPreview-PreviewTitle\" class=\"css-zasw6y e1o401182\">China\u2019s Tianzhou-9 cargo craft launches for Tiangong space station resupply mission<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s Tianzhou-9 cargo craft launches for Tiangong space station resupply mission<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The launches, which bring the total number of Guo Wang satellites in orbit to 57, used three different Long March rockets, signalling a national push to ensure the project received all the launch capacity it needed to stay on track.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/science\/article\/3319163\/has-qianfan-satellite-network-chinas-starlink-rival-run-trouble?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Qianfan<\/a>, a 15,000-satellite constellation backed by the Shanghai municipal government, has not launched since March, despite already placing 90 satellites in orbit.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">With state-owned rockets seemingly out of reach, Qianfan is now turning to private rocket companies for help.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">In late July, Shanghai Yuanxin Satellite Technology \u2013 the company behind Qianfan \u2013 issued its second launch tender of the year, seeking seven rocket launches to deploy 94 satellites. The contract, worth 1.4 billion yuan (US$186 million), requires all satellites to be delivered into orbit by March next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As China scrambles to build massive internet networks in space to rival Starlink, a growing divide is quietly&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[550,144,13548,46119,46120,25388,25382,79,4633,25386,193,1513,5408,46118,46117],"class_list":{"0":"post-62296","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-beijing","9":"tag-china","10":"tag-falcon-9","11":"tag-guo-wang","12":"tag-landspace","13":"tag-long-march","14":"tag-qianfan","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-shanghai","17":"tag-shanghai-yuanxin-satellite-technology","18":"tag-space","19":"tag-spacex","20":"tag-starlink","21":"tag-zhuque-2e","22":"tag-zhuque-3"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}