The constellation is designed around a hub-and-spoke architecture with three auxiliary (or 'spoke') satellites collecting and a single master (or 'hub') satellite transmitting collected data and receiving instructions for the accompanying auxiliary satellites.[1] Operating in a close formation, these co-orbiting satellites utilize inter-satellite communication to maintain stable and precision synchronization. According to the developer of Hongtu-1 satellites, GalaxySpace, the master satellite weights approximately 320 kilograms and a single auxiliary satellite weights approximately 270 kilograms.[citation needed]
First launch of Hongtu-1 satellites
Hongtu-1 satellites are domestically produced by GalaxySpace, a Beijing-based private satellite developer, for PIESAT Information Technology Co. Ltd. and launched by China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) on a Long March 2D rocket provided by CASC's Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST).[4] PIESAT has publicly announced their goal to deploy 38 satellites in the constellation, 28 of which are synthetic aperture radar (SAR) alongside 10 optical imaging satellites including panchromatic and multispectral sensors.[3][5] The first launch of PIESAT-1 (Hongtu-1) satellites took place at Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC) in China's Shanxi Province on 30 March 2023.[1][2][6]
Note: The four tracked satellites have not yet been individually tied to the allocated COSPAR identifiers and Satellite Catalog Numbers (SCNs).Sources: United States Space Force (USSF), N2YO
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
