The Tongchuan-1 satellite, developed by Chinese satellite company Spacety, Tsinghua University and the government of Tongchuan, Shaanxi. Credit: Spacety press release
All eyes have been on China’s successful launch of Mars mission Tianwen-1. The spacecraft and the rocket that launched it, like most of the technology for China’s national space missions, was made by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the state-owned enterprise that holds the main contracts for China’s space program.
But, in recent years, new opportunities have emerged in China’s private space sector. This week we look at the recent rise of commercial space companies in China.
The Rise of China’s Commercial Space Sector
Data: STPI
In 2014, a change in government policy, part of a financial document known as Document 60, spurred the growth of China’s commercial space sector, especially in launch and remote sensing. The change incentivized private investors to fund commercial space ventures, and the number of Chinese space startups has taken off since.
A report by the Institute for Defense Analyses’s Science and Technology
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
When Ken Wilcox, a former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, moved to Shanghai in 2011, he was optimistic and eager to start up the bank's new joint venture in China. A decade later, however, he is extremely cynical about U.S. business interests in China. While analysts will, rightly, be debating SVB's missteps in the U.S. for the foreseeable future, Wilcox insists the bank's challenges in China should not be overlooked.
The former secretary of state talks about how the Trump administration changed U.S.-China relations; why he accused Beijing of genocide in Xinjiang; and why U.S. politicians should visit Taiwan.