The country’s Starlink challengers are in a race against time to send more satellites into orbit. But is China’s fragmented commercial rocket industry up to the task?
A Long March-8A carrier rocket carrying a new group of low Earth orbit satellites blasts off from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in Wenchang, Hainan, China, August 26, 2025. Credit: VCG via Getty Images
It was not the restrictive visit, surrounded by military personnel, that many of David Peng’s friends had predicted for his trip to one of the largest space-launch facilities in China. “There were balloons and kids in astronaut outfits, drawing and singing songs," the Hong Kong-based investment advisor said of his recent trip to the Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan island, a critical facility for China’s commercial satellite launchers.
A Long March 2F carrier rocket assembled at th
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