Observers’ Report: First Views of the Chinese “Thousand Sails” Satellites

Shanghai SatCom Satellite Technology launched the first 18 spacecraft of their Qianfan megaconstellation in early August. Qianfan means Thousand Sails and it will add 14,000 new communication satellites to the already crowded space in low-Earth orbit. Two more Chinese mega-constellations are planned to follow Qianfan. The Thousand Sails spacecraft are in polar orbits inclined 89° to Earth’s equator at altitudes near 800 kilometers (500 miles). That height is above the Starlink satellites, operated by SpaceX, and below those of the OneWeb constellation from Eutelsat. More

(Source: Sky and Telescope - Aug 29)