The Chang'e 6 lunar probe and the Long March-5 Y8 carrier rocket combination sit atop the launch pad at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan province, China May 3, 2024.
China on Tuesday launched its first batch of internet satellites that will form part of a constellation it hopes will rival SpaceX's Starlink.
Known as "Thousand Sails," the constellation is a low-Earth orbit set of more than 15,000 satellites that China has said will create global internet coverage.
A Long March 6A carrier rocket took off from the Taiyuan launch center in the northern Shanxi province of China to deliver the initial 18 satellites into space, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which called the mission a complete success.
By 2025, China is aiming to deploy 648 satellites in the first phase of the constellation's buildout, in order to create an internet network with global coverage, according to state media CCTV.
Persons:
SpaceX's Starlink
Organizations:
Tuesday, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Locations:
Hainan province, China, Taiyuan, Shanxi
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