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China sets new daily launch record with three Long March liftoffs within 19 hours
China set a national record by launching three Long March rockets within 19 hours, raising its 2025 orbital-launch total to 83, including Guowang, Yaogan 47 and TJSW-22 satellites.
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A Long March 2F rocket carrying the country's first space laboratory module Tiangong-1 lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on September 29, 2011 in Jiuquan, Gansu province of China. The unmanned Tiangong-1 will stay in orbit for two years and dock with China's Shenzhou-8, -9 and -10 spacecraft with the eventual goal of establishing a manned Chinese space station around 2020 (Image via Getty)China achieved a new national record by launching three Long March rockets within a span of less than 19 hours, demonstrating a high operational cadence for its space program, according to Space.com.
The sequence began on December 8, 2025, and concluded on December 9, pushing China’s orbital-launch tally for 2025 to 83 missions.
The three launches included a Long March 6A carrying broadband satellites for the Guowang megaconstellation, a Long March 4B deploying the Yaogan 47 satellite for military purposes, and a Long March 3B placing the TJSW-22 classified satellite into orbit.
These launches were reported by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
Sequence of the December launches
The first launch in the series occurred at 5:11 p.m. ET on December 8, 2025, when a Long March 6A lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China.
The mission delivered a batch of broadband satellites into low Earth orbit for the Guowang, or “national network,” megaconstellation.
The second launch took place at 10:41 p.m. ET on the same day, with a Long March 4B rocket sending the Yaogan 47 satellite into orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.
The Long March 3B at 10:08 a.m. ET on December 9, 2025, was the final launch in this record-setting sequence. The launch originated from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in western China and involved the deployment of the classified TJSW-22 satellite.
All three launches took place on December 9, Beijing time, according to CASC. The CASC statement stated that the TJSW-22 launch was the third time in a single day that a Long March rocket had successfully taken off.
The local time series of launches on December 8–9 was the fifth total of orbital launches within 24 hours. Among them were two SpaceX missions: a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites and the NROL-77 launch for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.
Overview of the Long March Rocket family
Since 1970, the Long March (Changzheng) family of China's rockets has been operational, starting with the Long March 1, which made the launch of China's first satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1, from Jiuquan.
Later on, the series has been expanded to include several variants for missions to low Earth orbit, sun-synchronous orbit, and geosynchronous transfer orbit.
There are numerous models, including Long March 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11, each with distinct payload capacities and launch profiles.
The Long March 5 and 5B variants are intended for payloads that are significantly heavier than normal, such as the modules of China’s Tiangong space station. The Long March 6 and 6A, however, are primarily designed for satellite clusters of lower weight.
Among the payloads that are brought to orbit with the help of the Long March 3B and 4B are those of a classified and communications nature. The launches happen at Xichang and Jiuquan.
The Central Aero- with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology as the main developers and manufacturers of the rockets is in charge of the whole Long March family. Chang 8 has been built with the feature of reusability in mind and there is a plan to make Long March 9 a super heavy-lift rocket for carrying large infrastructures or going to the moon.
The Long March 11 is a solid-fuel rocket primarily used to launch small satellites. The launches are among converted barges at sea.
Recent launch statistics
The December 8–9 activity increased China’s total orbital launches in 2025 to 83, surpassing the previous record of 68 missions set in 2024, according to Space.com.
The record is not global; SpaceX alone has completed 159 orbital launches in 2025.
International comparisons show that multiple orbital launches in a single day have occurred previously, including six launches between April 28 and 29, 2025, involving vehicles from China, SpaceX, ULA, Arianespace, and Firefly Aerospace.
Stay tuned for more updates.
TOPICS: China space launches 2025, China space program milestones, Chinese rocket launches, Guowang megaconstellation satellites, Long March 3B launch, Long March 4B launch, Long March 6A launch, Long March rocket record, SpaceX vs China launches 2025, TJSW-22 classified satellite, Yaogan 47 satellite launch