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At 11:21 a.m. Beijing time on August 25, 2026, China's Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center used a Long March 6C rocket to place seven satellites into a planned sun-synchronous orbit in a single “one rocket, seven satellites” launch, including the “Lingzhi-09 Thailand CubeSat” built by Chinese commercial space company Galaxy Space. The satellite was built specifically for Thailand's Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), marking the first time a Chinese private space company has completed the full chain—from satellite development and launch to in-orbit delivery—of a whole-satellite export to a Southeast Asian country.

The Long March 6C rocket was developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), part of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), as a follow-on to the Long March 6 family. It uses a two-stage core design: a first stage 3.35 meters in diameter with two 120-ton-thrust liquid-oxygen/kerosene engines, and a second stage 2.9 meters in diameter with one 18-ton-thrust engine of the same type. The rocket stands about 43 meters tall, has a liftoff mass of roughly 215 tons, and can carry about 2.4 tons of payload into a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. The mission was the Long March 6C's second flight and the type's return to service after more than two years, as well as the 665th flight overall for the Long March rocket family, carried out from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

Among the seven satellites placed into orbit in the same mission, besides the Lingzhi-09 Thailand CubeSat, the launch also carried two Galaxy Space-built synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote-sensing satellites, Zhongke-14 and Zhongke-15, which each carry a high-resolution SAR payload and a space-based cloud-computing payload, combining satellite remote sensing with in-orbit data processing to form a “space-based information platform” able to provide all-day, all-weather radar remote-sensing data to users at home and abroad. Also riding along were the Muduo series satellites, the “Jing'an Dream Star,” and the “August 1-04” satellite, underscoring the mission's commercial character of using a single rocket to loft multiple satellites for multiple purposes at once.

The Lingzhi-09 Thailand CubeSat was fully designed and built by Galaxy Space and delivered to GISTDA for operation. It is primarily intended to collect remote-sensing data on Thailand's land, agriculture and ecology, supporting land-use monitoring, agricultural production assessment and ecological observation. The satellite also serves an educational role, helping Thai university students take part in hands-on training in satellite design, spacecraft tracking, telemetry and control (TT&C), and remote-sensing applications. As a CubeSat platform, it is far smaller and lighter than a traditional Earth observation satellite, making it relatively low-cost to build and launch, and well suited as an entry-level project for developing countries to cultivate homegrown space talent and accumulate in-orbit operating experience.

Industry observers note that Chinese private companies had rarely conducted whole-satellite exports directly in the commercial space sector before this mission, with past international cooperation typically limited to a single link such as launch services, component supply, or satellite-data distribution. What sets this mission apart is that Galaxy Space did not merely supply GISTDA with a single satellite product, but a full national-level space capability package covering the satellite itself, ground tracking stations, telemetry and control system construction, and a personnel-training program—achieving a full-chain technology transfer spanning the satellite, ground systems and workforce training. State media described it as the first time a Chinese commercial space company has achieved a complete whole-satellite export to a Southeast Asian country, and it is also seen as emblematic of Chinese private space firms shifting from merely offering launch services toward exporting complete satellite-system solutions.

According to reports, a GISTDA official said after the launch that China's support in space technology has driven the rapid development of Thailand's space industry. GISTDA deputy executive director Phee Choosri also said China is an important partner for Thailand in space technology and geo-informatics, noting that GISTDA is currently cooperating with more than ten Chinese institutions, with collaboration spanning applied research through to deep-space exploration.

Galaxy Space was founded in 2018 by Xu Ming and is headquartered in Beijing's Haidian district. It is a leading Chinese commercial space company in the low-Earth-orbit (LEO) broadband satellite communications field, aiming to build LEO broadband constellations through mass, low-cost satellite manufacturing; its smart factory in Nantong, Jiangsu, is capable of producing hundreds of satellites a year. Thailand was Galaxy Space's first overseas market: as early as 2023, the company used satellite internet to set up a telemedicine test solution in remote areas of Thailand. In February this year, Galaxy Space also signed a memorandum of understanding in Bangkok with True Corporation, Thailand's major telecom operator, to cooperate on LEO satellite communications, integrated space-ground network solutions, and direct-to-cell satellite technology. Beyond Thailand, Galaxy Space is also pursuing various levels of cooperation in markets such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia along the Belt and Road route.

Even as Thailand received the complete satellite from China, the country's own space-capability development has been advancing in parallel. GISTDA is currently developing a new-generation Earth observation satellite, THEOS-3, at the national Assembly, Integration and Test Center in the Space Krenovation Park in Chonburi province, with launch planned for 2027 — Thailand's most domestically-contributed satellite project to date, with Thai engineers involved throughout mission design, structural development, electronics and onboard software, and ground-system construction. Observers say the delivery of the Lingzhi-09 Thailand CubeSat and the THEOS-3 program represent two parallel, complementary paths toward Thailand building an independent space-capability system — the former relying on international cooperation to quickly gain whole-satellite capability while training personnel, the latter focused on long-term indigenous research and development.

The whole-satellite delivery is also the latest development in deepening China-Thailand space cooperation. In April 2025, China's National Space Administration and Thailand signed an agreement on cooperation in the peaceful use of outer space and lunar exploration; Thailand's self-developed scientific payload was subsequently confirmed to fly on China's Chang'e-7 mission, and Thailand further confirmed its participation in the Chang'e-8 mission. Meanwhile, GISTDA has launched a joint master's program with Wuhan University and other Chinese universities to train a new generation of Thai space professionals. Analysts say that with the successful launch of the Lingzhi-09 Thailand CubeSat, the China-Thailand cooperation model—spanning satellite manufacturing, ground system construction and talent training—could serve as a reference for Galaxy Space and other Chinese commercial space companies as they expand into Southeast Asia and the broader Belt and Road market.