Why China’s commercial space sector is grabbing attention – including from Elon Musk
Chinese start-up LandSpace is set to launch its first reusable rocket on Saturday. If it succeeds, it will give China’s space sector a major boost
On Saturday, the Beijing-based start-up LandSpace reportedly plans to conduct the maiden launch of its Zhuque-3 rocket – a reusable launch vehicle that could significantly boost China’s space industry by lowering the cost of lifting equipment such as satellites into orbit.
The prospect of China mastering reusable rockets – a technology pioneered by US-based SpaceX – has attracted significant attention from aerospace experts, and even drew comment from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk last month.
Beyond the strategic importance of reusable carrier rockets, a successful launch would also represent a milestone for China’s commercial space sector, which has rapidly grown in recent years as Beijing bids to rival Washington in space technology.
In this explainer, the Post breaks down the current state of China’s commercial space industry, how close it is to rolling out reusable rockets, and how the technology would benefit the country’s space programme.
How far has China’s commercial space industry come?
China’s commercial space sector has grown at a rapid pace over the past few years. As of Monday, the country had more than 90,000 space-related companies, nearly 60 per cent of which were founded in the past three years, according to the Chinese corporate database Qichacha.
The industry surpassed a market value of 1 trillion yuan (US$141 billion) in 2020 and has since maintained steady growth, with a compound annual growth rate of around 22 per cent, according to an analysis by the China Centre for Information Industry Development, as cited by state news agency Xinhua.
The centre – which is under China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology – projected that China’s commercial space industry would reach a market value of 2.8 trillion yuan in 2025.
Why is the industry attracting attention at the moment?
Eyes are now turning to the maiden launch of the Zhuque-3 rocket, which is scheduled for Saturday, according to financial news agency Cailian Press.
The LandSpace launch vehicle – one of several Chinese reusable rockets under development – could reduce the cost of lifting equipment into space, helping China to accelerate the deployment of large-scale low-orbit satellite constellations.
Musk appears to be impressed. In a social media post discussing several Chinese reusable rocket models – including Zhuque-3 – in late October, he said the Chinese companies had “added aspects of Starship” – SpaceX’s most powerful launch vehicle – to a “Falcon 9 architecture”, referring to one of the company’s earlier reusable rockets.
The designs had the potential to “beat Falcon 9”, Musk said, while adding that Starship was “in another league”.
In a report published on Sunday, Citic Securities noted that Chinese companies had already launched liquid-fuel rockets comparable to SpaceX’s Falcon 1. The next phase would see them develop reusable medium-lift launch vehicles similar to the Falcon 9.
These larger rockets would be used to deploy GuoWang and Qianfan – Chinese satellite internet constellations aiming to provide an alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink – and computing-power satellites, “potentially overcoming bottlenecks in payload capacity and launch costs”, the report added.
What other recent moves are propelling the industry’s development?
The Chinese government is also moving to create a more favourable environment for the development of the country’s satellite communications sector.
On Saturday, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the launch of commercial trial operations for satellite-based Internet of Things services at the China 5G+ Industrial Internet Conference in the central Hubei province.
Meanwhile, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence has published a recruitment notice that included an “aerospace regulatory post” in the newly created commercial space department – indicating a new department has been set up for the industry.
“The establishment of the commercial space department will effectively consolidate related functions that were previously scattered across multiple agencies, allowing satellite industry work to be coordinated at a higher level,” Citic Securities said in its report.
“The efficiency of key processes, such as commercial space launch approvals and the issuance of satellite operating licences, is also expected to improve further,” the report added.