China closed 2025 with a late twist in the space race, lofting a pair of experimental surveillance satellites into orbit in a mission that blended technological ambition with strategic signaling. The dual launch, built around new Shijian-29 spacecraft and a modified Long March rocket, capped a year in which Beijing’s space program pushed hard on both capacity and capability. The move sharpened questions about how far China intends to take space-based sensing and what that means for military balance and commercial competition in orbit.
A surprise ending to a record-setting launch year
Beijing’s decision to end the year with an unheralded dual satellite mission underscored how quickly its space program has shifted from catching up to setting the pace. After a steady drumbeat of launches throughout 2025, the final flight added two Shijian-29 spacecraft to an already crowded Chinese orbital roster, signaling that the country is now comfortable fielding sophisticated payloads on short notice. The mission’s timing, on the cusp of the new year, ensured that it would be read as a statement about where China sees itself in the hierarchy of space powers.
The launch also landed against the backdrop of a broader national strategy that treats space as a core domain of economic and military competition. Official descriptions of China’s rise emphasize advanced manufacturing, data dominance, and secure communications, all of which depend heavily on orbital infrastructure. By pairing a surprise mission with a record annual launch cadence, Beijing signaled that it is not only expanding its fleet but also refining the tempo and flexibility of its operations in space.
The Shijian-29 twins and their modified Long March ride
The centerpiece of the year-end mission was a matched pair of Shijian-29 satellites, described in official materials as new generation platforms for space target detection and surveillance. These spacecraft were carried to orbit by a modified Long March-7 variant, a workhorse in China’s medium-lift fleet that has been adapted to handle more complex payload configurations. The combination of twin satellites and a customized launcher highlighted how the Shijian line has evolved from basic technology demonstrators into highly specialized assets.
Reporting on the flight notes that China successfully launched two Shijian-29 satellites aboard a modified Long March-7 rocket, explicitly tying the mission to advances in the realm of space target detection. The use of the Shijian name, which literally means “practice” or “experiment,” signals that the hardware is still framed as experimental, yet the sophistication of the launch stack and the focus on surveillance functions suggest that these tests are edging closer to operational capability.
Target detection and space surveillance as the mission’s core
At the heart of the Shijian-29 deployment is a push to refine how Chinese satellites can find, track, and characterize objects in orbit. Space target detection covers a spectrum of tasks, from monitoring debris and foreign spacecraft to cueing other sensors for more detailed observation. By flying two satellites together, mission planners can experiment with cooperative tracking techniques, cross calibration of sensors, and potentially even formation flying that improves the accuracy and resilience of surveillance data.
Accounts of the mission describe the Shijian-29 pair as twin Shijian-29 satellites to test new space-target detection tech, emphasizing that the payloads are geared toward innovation and sensor performance trials. That framing aligns with a broader pattern in which China uses ostensibly experimental spacecraft to validate capabilities that can later be folded into military or civil constellations. In practical terms, the mission gives Chinese operators more precise awareness of what is happening in key orbital lanes, a capability that has direct implications for both collision avoidance and strategic monitoring.
How Shijian fits into a dual-use satellite strategy
The Shijian-29 launch did not emerge in isolation, but rather as part of a wider family of spacecraft that blur the line between civilian research and military utility. The Shijian series has long been associated with experimental payloads, yet the nature of those experiments has increasingly tilted toward functions that are valuable for defense planners, including surveillance, inspection, and maneuvering near other satellites. This dual character allows Chinese officials to present the program as a benign technology testbed while still harvesting capabilities that can be integrated into security planning.
Analysts tracking the program describe a Dual Use Shijian Satellite Program Ramps narrative, in which a secretive cluster of experimental dual-use satellites has accelerated over the course of 2025. Within that context, Shijian-29 looks less like a one-off experiment and more like the latest node in a growing network of platforms that can support both scientific and military missions. The dual-use framing also complicates international responses, since it is harder to challenge satellites that are officially described as research tools even when their capabilities clearly extend into the security realm.
Wenchang, Long March, and the industrial muscle behind the launch
The year-end mission also showcased the maturing industrial base that underpins China’s space ambitions. The Shijian-29 pair rode a Long March 7A that lifted off from Wenchang, a coastal spaceport designed to handle heavier rockets and more frequent flights than older inland sites. Wenchang’s location allows spent stages to fall over water rather than populated areas, which in turn makes it easier to schedule launches and experiment with new vehicle configurations without the same level of domestic risk.
Coverage of the mission notes that a Long March 7A lifts off from Wenchang carrying the Shijian-29 A and B satellites, underscoring how the site has become a hub for more advanced technology test missions. The Long March family itself has been steadily upgraded, with variants like the 7A tailored for medium to heavy payloads and complex orbits. Together, the rocket and the spaceport illustrate how China has moved beyond simply fielding launchers to optimizing an integrated system that can support high tempo, high complexity operations.
Record orbital cadence and the role of CASC, Expace and CAS
Beyond the technical details of a single mission, the Shijian-29 launch capped a year in which China’s overall launch cadence reached new heights. Official tallies show that the country completed 92 orbital missions in 2025, a figure that places it at or near the top of global rankings for the year. That volume reflects not only state-led projects but also a growing ecosystem of commercial and quasi-commercial actors that are increasingly woven into the national space strategy.
Within that total, the main state contractor CASC claimed overall responsibility for 73 of the launches, with the rest performed by state-spinoffs Expace and CAS. That breakdown highlights how Beijing is using both traditional state-owned giants and more agile offshoots to scale up its presence in orbit. The Shijian-29 mission, framed as a technology test, fits neatly into this pattern, leveraging the heavy infrastructure of CASC while leaving room for future collaboration with commercial players that can build on the technologies validated in flight.
2025 as a turning point in China’s broader space push
The dual satellite launch also needs to be read against the wider arc of China’s space activity over the past year. In 2025, Chinese planners not only increased the number of missions but also diversified the types of payloads, from crewed flights and cargo runs to the Tiangong space station to deep space probes and commercial communications constellations. This mix signals a deliberate effort to build a comprehensive space ecosystem that can support scientific exploration, economic services, and national security objectives in parallel.
Analyses of the year describe how record launches, reusable rockets and a rescue helped China make big strides in space in 2025, painting a picture of a program that is both scaling up and learning to handle complex contingencies. Against that backdrop, the Shijian-29 mission looks like a capstone that ties together themes of high launch tempo, experimental technology, and strategic signaling. It reinforces the impression that Beijing now sees space as a domain where it can innovate, not just imitate.
International comparisons and the SpaceX radar launch benchmark
China’s year-end move also invites comparison with how other space powers chose to close out their own launch calendars. In the United States, commercial providers continued to dominate the manifest, with SpaceX planning to end the year by lofting an Italian radar satellite that is central to Europe’s Earth observation capabilities. That mission, built around synthetic aperture radar, underscores how allied governments are leaning on private launchers to field high value surveillance assets of their own.
Reporting on that flight highlights that The COSMO SkyMed Second Generation (CSG-3) satellite is a critical synthetic aperture radar asset, illustrating how Western partners are also investing heavily in advanced sensing from orbit. Set against China’s Shijian-29 deployment, the comparison shows a global trend toward more capable, more numerous surveillance platforms, whether they are labeled as civil, military, or dual use. The difference lies in governance and transparency, with commercial and allied missions typically subject to more public scrutiny than China’s tightly controlled announcements.
Strategic implications of a surprise surveillance-focused finale
The decision to keep the Shijian-29 mission relatively low profile until after launch, then highlight its surveillance and target detection role, sends a layered strategic message. On one level, it signals confidence that China can field sensitive capabilities without needing international validation or cooperation. On another, it reminds rivals that Beijing is steadily improving its ability to monitor activity in orbit, a prerequisite for both protecting its own assets and, if necessary, targeting those of others.
Accounts of the mission stress that China launched two new generation satellites for space surveillance, innovation and sensor performance trials, language that neatly encapsulates the dual narrative of experimentation and operational relevance. For other spacefaring nations, the message is clear: China is not only matching their launch numbers but also investing in the kind of high end sensing that underpins modern military planning. As 2026 begins, the Shijian-29 twins orbit as both technical experiments and visible symbols of a shifting balance in space surveillance capabilities.
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