A fleet built on two megaconstellations
China owns 1,467 active satellites as of October 17, 2026, 8.6% of the world's and the second most of any country. It had 49 payloads in orbit at the end of 2005 and 1,322 at the end of 2025. Two state-backed internet networks are the largest single blocks in the current fleet.
The first is Qianfan, also called Spacesail, with 235 active satellites, 16% of China's fleet. Its first batch of 18 satellites went up on August 6, 2024 on a Long March 6A from Taiyuan. The plan is more than 15,000 satellites in the end and 1,296 in a first phase, so today's count is under a fifth of that first phase.
The second is Guowang, managed by China SatNet. GCAT's largest Chinese operator label, Zhongguo Xingwang, covers 251 satellites and appears to be the Chinese name of that operator. The first operational batch of 10 flew on December 16, 2024 on a Long March 5B from Wenchang, and the plan is more than 13,000 satellites. Together the Qianfan family and that operator label account for 33% of the Chinese total.
What they do
Communications accounts for 604 of China's active satellites (41%).
Where they orbit
Who operates them
The largest operators, and the largest families of satellites, owned by China.
By operator
By satellite family
Operator names are as written in GCAT, usually transliterated from the original language. Families group satellites by the first word of their name.
How the fleet has grown
At the end of 2005, China had 49 payloads in Earth orbit. By the end of 2025 it had 1,322.
Launches
China has made 808 orbital launch attempts since its first in 1970, and 92 of them in 2025. Its busiest year was 2025 with 92.
For comparison, see the Russian satellite fleet.
The first Chinese satellite
China's first satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1, flew on April 24, 1970 on a Long March 1 rocket from Jiuquan. It weighed 173 kg and broadcast the song Dong Fang Hong along with the time. The launch made China the fifth nation to reach orbit on its own rocket.
Since then Chinese rockets have made 808 orbital launch attempts in GCAT's log, and the busiest year was 2025 with 92. Where those flights leave from is on the launches from China page.
The satellites nobody explains
The Yaogan family is the biggest single group after the two networks, with 141 active satellites. Yaogan means remote sensing. The satellites are China's remote sensing reconnaissance satellites, flown with optical, radar and signals sensors and largely understood to serve the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force. The first one launched on April 26, 2006.
That's why GCAT's category table shows 125 Chinese satellites under signals intelligence and 316 under Earth imaging. The catalogue sorts satellites by function. China publishes little about what many of them do, so the sorting rests on outside analysis of their orbits and sensors.
Military operators appear under several labels, including PLA SSF with 84 satellites and PLA GAD with 71. The civil space agency, listed as CNSA, has 71.
Navigation, a carmaker and the orbit mix
China's BeiDou navigation system has 56 active satellites, more than the 37 of GPS or the 33 of Europe's Galileo. Its last satellite launched on June 23, 2020, completing the third generation.
One name in the table surprises people: Geely, with 60 satellites. Geespace is a Geely subsidiary founded in 2018 in Shanghai, and it launched its first satellites in June 2022. They're low-orbit positioning and connectivity satellites. The national total now includes corporate money as well as ministries.
The orbits tell their own story. 728 Chinese satellites fly in the upper low Earth band, 600 to 2,000 km, more than the 368 the United States has there, while 585 fly in the lowest band where Starlink operates. China launches its own: 1,466 of its 1,467 active satellites flew on Chinese rockets and 1 on Italian rockets. Compared with the United States, China's fleet is 11% of the size, with a much more even split between communications, imaging and intelligence satellites.