Live count
How many satellites does China have?
As of 6 October 2026, 02:10 UTC, the catalogue records 1,541 active satellites for China, 9.3 percent of the catalogue's active satellites.
See also: all owners ranked, United States, United Kingdom, CIS (former USSR), Japan.
What makes up this fleet
Recorded as "People's Republic of China", the 2nd largest fleet among 99 owners.
Name families
Our own grouping by the run of two or more letters that starts each catalogue name ("DMC3" counts as DMC); where the catalogue uses more than one prefix for a fleet, we do not merge them. 182 of these satellites (11.8 percent) have no name family: they have only a launch designator so far.
| Family | Satellites | Share (percent) | Main orbit group | Most common CelesTrak group |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QIANFAN | 257 | 16.7 | Low | Broadband internet |
| HULIANWANG | 191 | 12.4 | Low | Broadband internet |
| YAOGAN | 169 | 11.0 | Low | Earth observation |
| GEESAT | 63 | 4.1 | Low | None recorded |
| BEIDOU | 56 | 3.6 | Medium | Navigation |
| JILIN | 45 | 2.9 | Low | Amateur radio |
| SHIYAN | 41 | 2.7 | Low | Geostationary |
| GAOFEN | 36 | 2.3 | Low | Earth observation |
| CENTISPACE | 33 | 2.1 | Low | Amateur radio |
| GUOWANG | 31 | 2.0 | Low | Broadband internet |
| 104 other families | 437 | 28.4 | ||
| No name family | 182 | 11.8 |
The group is the CelesTrak list a satellite is in, as the collector maps those lists to purposes; a satellite in several lists gets only one of them, so a family's group need not describe its mission.
Launched in the last 30 days
63 of these satellites were launched in the 30 days before the data time. 48 have a name in the catalogue and 15 have only a launch designator so far, for example 2026-205A.
| Launch date | Satellites | Named | Only a launch designator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 September 2026 | 6 | None | 6 (2026-205) |
| 15 September 2026 | 19 | QIANFAN 16 OBJECT A, QIANFAN 16 OBJECT B, QIANFAN 16 OBJECT C and 16 more | None |
| 17 September 2026 | 11 | GUOWANG 25 OBJECT A, GUOWANG 25 OBJECT B, GUOWANG 25 OBJECT C and 8 more | None |
| 19 September 2026 | 4 | PIESAT-2 OBJECT A, PIESAT-2 OBJECT B, PIESAT-2 OBJECT C and 1 more | None |
| 21 September 2026 | 9 | None | 9 (2026-220) |
| 23 September 2026 | 9 | GUOWANG 26 OBJECT A, GUOWANG 26 OBJECT B, GUOWANG 26 OBJECT C and 6 more | None |
| 24 September 2026 | 5 | YAOGAN-40 04 OBJECT A, YAOGAN-40 04 OBJECT B, YAOGAN-40 04 OBJECT C and 2 more | None |
Orbit groups
China leans towards the geostationary belt: 6.9 percent of its fleet against 3.4 percent of the catalogue. Groups as defined under how these numbers are made.
| Orbit group | Satellites | Share (percent) | Catalogue share (percent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low (below 2,000 km) | 1,390 | 90.2 | 95.1 |
| Geostationary belt | 107 | 6.9 | 3.4 |
| Medium (2,000 to 35,585 km) | 38 | 2.5 | 1.1 |
| High elliptical (e 0.25+) | 4 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Beyond geostationary | 2 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
Map at the data time
Positions at 02:10 UTC are approximate (how). 75 within 1 degree of the equator (55 geostationary) are not placed north or south. Busiest band of the rest: the equator to 30 degrees north, 21.0 percent; 50.7 percent north of the equator. Satellites closer than 0.1 degree share a dot, so the map has 1,528 dots.
Purposes
The catalogue records no purpose grouping for 49.7 percent of them. The most common recorded purpose is Broadband internet, with 473 satellites, 30.7 percent. After it come Amateur radio (86), Geostationary (78) and Navigation (48).
| Purpose | Satellites |
|---|---|
| Unspecified | 766 |
| Broadband internet | 473 |
| Amateur radio | 86 |
| Geostationary | 78 |
| Navigation | 48 |
| Earth observation | 41 |
| Weather and climate | 31 |
| Search and rescue | 6 |
| All other purposes | 12 |
Launch years
Most of them, 76.0 percent, were launched in 2022 or later. The launch year with the most of them is 2026, with 367.
| Launch year | Satellites |
|---|---|
| Earlier | 52 |
| 2012 | 15 |
| 2013 | 13 |
| 2014 | 17 |
| 2015 | 18 |
| 2016 | 16 |
| 2017 | 22 |
| 2018 | 59 |
| 2019 | 50 |
| 2020 | 35 |
| 2021 | 73 |
| 2022 | 96 |
| 2023 | 116 |
| 2024 | 231 |
| 2025 | 361 |
| 2026 | 367 |
Earliest launches among satellites the catalogue lists as active:
| Launch date | Satellites |
|---|---|
| 21 October 2003 | CHUANGXIN 1 (CX-1) |
| 18 April 2004 | SHIYAN-1 (SY-1) |
| 8 September 2004 | SHIJIAN-6 01A (SJ-6 01A) and SHIJIAN-6 01B (SJ-6 01B) |
How this was counted
1,541 of the 16,622 satellites on the count page carry the owner "People's Republic of China". Full method: how these numbers are made.
Questions
Where does China rank among satellite owners?
2nd. The United States is ahead with 12,523; the United Kingdom follows with 697.
How many satellites the catalogue records for China have a purpose group?
775 of the 1,541. The other 766 have no recorded group, more than any single group has, so the catalogue cannot say what most of them are for.
How many were launched in the last 30 days?
63 of the 154 active satellites launched in the 30 days before the data time.
Sources
CelesTrak: active list, SATCAT, owner codes, status codes.