Artist’s rendition of satellites orbiting the Earth – rottenman/123RF Stock Photo
This week has seen several satellite launched around the world, with new Earth Observation (EO) satellites going up, together with the latest salvo in the space-based broadband battle.
China
Last weekend, China successfully launched three satellites on the Gravity-1 rocket, which took off from the Yellow Sea. The launch took place from a specially modified barge in the waters off the coast of Haiyang, Shandong Province, eastern China. with support from the Haiyang Oriental Spaceport, China’s first dedicated sea launch facility.
The Gravity-1 rocket was built by China’s private space company Orienspace Technology (Shandong) Co., Ltd. This marks the second launch, following its maiden flight in January 2024, and the continued development of China’s maritime satellite launch capabilities.
The three satellites on board, put into near-polar orbits, were:
- Jilin-1 Wideband 02B07, a high-resolution optical EO satellite for Changguang Satellite Technology. It is reported as having a 0.5 metre spatial resolution with a 150-kilometre swath width. It is reported to have already acquired images of high-latitude regions in Russia and the data is expected to be used for applications such as mapping, agriculture, and urban management; and
- Shutian Yuxing-01 and -02 which are positioning satellites developed by Geespace and are testing Geespace’s GSP50 platform.
Following this launch on Monday, China also successfully launched the Shiyan-31 satellite into a polar orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center aboard a Long March 2D rocket. This is a reported as a test satellite that will be used to verify new optical imaging technologies, although the actual specifications and functions of the satellite aren’t know.
Japan
Yesterday, the New Zealand based Rocket Lab’s launched a Strix radar-imaging satellite for the Japanese company Synspective on its Electron rocket into a low earth orbit at just below 600 kilometres.
Rocket Lab’s launches are known for their quirky names, and this one is called ‘Owl New World’ in homage to the satellite’s name, as the owl’s scientific name is Strix Uralensis.
There are currently six Strix satellites in space, and they are reported as offering spatial resolutions of 1 to 3 metres with a swath width of 10 to 30 kilometres, and have VV polarization. The data is used for applications such as monitoring disaster response and management, national security and environmental monitoring.
The launch yesterday was one of a new generation of Strix satellites, although the precise changs to the instrument have not been released yet. There are expected to be 20 further launches to build the full constellation.
United States
Although not an EO launch, it is worth noting that earlier this week saw the latest launch of Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband internet satellites with a further 24 being put into orbit by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
The Project Kuiper constellation has been rapidly building with regular launches throughout 2025, and it now has 153 satellites in low Earth orbit. However, this launch schedule is expected to pick up even more as their initial licence requires half the overall constellation – 1,618 satellites – to be in orbit by July 2026, so they have a long way to go in the next ten months.
Conclusion
Satellites continue to get launched rapidly, and it looks like this is not slowing down, and some people are voicing concerns as to whether LEO is getting overcrowded together with the dangers of satellites returning to Earth as they reach the end of life. It is never boring working in the satellite industry!
