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Starlink rival Qianfan hits satellite milestone, but is it too slow and costly?

Starlink rival Qianfan hits satellite milestone, but is it too slow and costly?
South China Morning Post Wednesday 10 June 2026, 13:00 UTC By Ling Xin 1 min read
Key Points

Starlink rival Qianfan hits satellite milestone, but is it too slow and costly? Constellation now has 201 satellites in orbit but the company is said to be under pressure to ramp up launches The constellation now has 201 satellites after a successful launch on board a Zhuque-2E rocket from the Gobi Desert at 4.23pm Beijing time on Tuesday. The mission delivered Qianfan DTC-01 – a direct-to-cell test satellite – alongside a satellite from China Mobile, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Starlink rival Qianfan hits satellite milestone, but is it too slow and costly? Constellation now has 201 satellites in orbit but the company is said to be under pressure to ramp up launches The constellation now has 201 satellites after a successful launch on board a Zhuque-2E rocket from the Gobi Desert at 4.23pm Beijing time on Tuesday. The mission delivered Qianfan DTC-01 – a direct-to-cell test satellite – alongside a satellite from China Mobile, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The flight followed back-to-back launches last Thursday and Friday from Taiyuan in central China and the new spaceport in southernmost Hainan, each sending 18 Qianfan satellites into orbit. A source working at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre said Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) – the company behind Qianfan – had sent a delegation to watch Tuesday’s launch.
Starlink (LOCATION) Qianfan (PERSON) the Gobi Desert (LOCATION) Beijing (LOCATION) China Mobile (ORG) CCTV (ORG) Taiyuan (LOCATION) China (LOCATION) Hainan (LOCATION) the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (LOCATION) Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (ORG)
Originally published by South China Morning Post Read original →

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