ISTANBUL

China on Friday launched 18 communications satellites from northern Shanxi province.

The plate-shaped satellites were launched into orbit in the afternoon by a Long March 6A rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center and successfully reached their planned orbital positions, according to the state-run China Daily.

The satellites were deployed as part of the Spacesail Constellation, a Chinese commercial low-orbit satellite constellation, which aims to form a network of satellites to provide global broadband internet services.

Previously known as the G60 network, the Spacesail Constellation is intended to provide high-speed, secure, and reliable broadband internet services to users around the world and is designed to consist of as many as more than 10,000 satellites traveling in low-altitude orbits before the end of 2030, the newspaper said, citing Spacesail.

According to the project plan, 648 satellites will be deployed in orbit by the end of 2025 to form the first version of the Spacesail Constellation network, which some observers have dubbed China's answer to SpaceX's Starlink system.

This was China's 64th space launch this year and the 601st flight in the Long March series.