China Expands Launch Cadence with Dual Rocket Missions, Eyes Commercial and Military Horizons

China’s space ambitions accelerated further this week with a pair of significant rocket launches, one state-led, the other commercial, demonstrating the country’s expanding capabilities in both geostationary and low Earth orbit missions.

Long March 7A Launches Classified ChinaSat-3B

At 7:50 a.m. Eastern on May 20 (1150 UTC), a Long March 7A rocket thundered off the pad at Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island. Roughly an hour later, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) declared the mission a success, identifying the payload as ChinaSat-3B (Zhongxing-3B)—a communications satellite developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a CASC subsidiary.

Officially, ChinaSat-3B is expected to support voice, data, radio, and television transmission services. However, the lack of public documentation and imagery has triggered speculation about potential military applications. Past satellites in the ChinaSat series, particularly those with lower numerical designations, have served dual-use or defense-related roles, including encrypted communications for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

This was the second Long March 7A mission in 2025. Designed to eventually replace the aging hypergolic Long March 3B, the 60.1-meter-tall kerolox rocket is capable of sending up to 7 metric tons to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). While the 3B saw eight launches last year, the 7A is ramping up with four launches in 2024 and multiple missions scheduled for 2025.

Commercial Sea Launch: Ceres-1 Sends IoT Satellites into Orbit

The government launch was preceded by a successful sea-based commercial launch on May 19. At 3:38 a.m. Eastern (0738 UTC), a Ceres-1 solid rocket lifted off from a modified barge in the Yellow Sea, near Shandong province. Developed and operated by Galactic Energy, the four-stage rocket carried four satellites for the Tianqi Internet-of-Things (IoT) constellation, marking the 34th to 37th additions to the growing network.

Operated by Beijing-based Guodian Gaoke, the Tianqi constellation aims to deliver narrowband IoT connectivity worldwide, particularly targeting remote and underserved regions. The mission marked Galactic Energy’s 20th Ceres-1 launch overall and its 10th consecutive success, underscoring the company’s reliability in small satellite delivery.

With the compact Ceres-1 capable of lifting 400 kg to LEO, Galactic Energy is preparing to scale operations. The upcoming Ceres-2, a larger solid-fueled launcher, will increase payload capacity to 1,600 kg for 500-km LEO missions. Also in development is Pallas-1, a kerolox launcher designed to carry up to 8,000 kg to low orbit—its debut expected as early as August 2025.

A Surge in Chinese Launch Activity

These back-to-back missions bring China’s total orbital launches in 2025 to 29, with six occurring in May alone. CAS Space’s Kinetica-1 solid rocket is slated for launch early on May 21, and China’s ambitious Tianwen-2 asteroid sample-return mission is scheduled to blast off from Xichang on May 28.

As China deepens its state-backed and private sector space initiatives, the pace and scale of launches are setting new records. With next-gen commercial rockets and high-profile scientific missions on the horizon, 2025 is shaping up to be a landmark year in Chinese spaceflight.