China's space agency unveils plan to boost commercial growth, international cooperation

BEIJING -- China's space agency released an action plan to back commercial space firms and encourage them to pursue international cooperation over the next two years.

The document released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Tuesday has invited the country's commercial space enterprises to "go global" and help developing countries build satellite-application industries.

The CNSA pledged to fold commercial-space projects into China's international cooperation agenda.

The agency vowed to expand commercial access to its national network of civilian tracking, telemetry and control (TT&C) stations, data-receiving sites, calibration ranges and validation fields, as well as to large test assets such as rocket-engine test stands and space-environment simulation facilities.

Commercial players will be selected through open competition to take part in cutting-edge, key space programs, ranging from advanced propulsion and next-generation satellite platforms and payloads to integrated communications, navigation and remote-sensing applications.

The CNSA will establish a national commercial space development fund, and broaden government procurement to integrate commercial capabilities -- such as launch vehicles, satellites, launch sites and TT&C facilities -- into national missions.

Local governments are urged to establish technology-innovation centers focused on reusable rockets and smart satellites, and to build open platforms for advanced manufacturing, final assembly and testing, according to the plan.

Support measures also include building commercial launch sites, unifying space standards, and opening space-debris data to power collision warnings for commercial spacecraft.

Commercial firms are encouraged to pioneer space resource utilization, on-orbit servicing, debris removal, space tourism, and in-space biomanufacturing.

The plan aims to achieve high-quality development of commercial space by 2027. The recommendations for the country's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) list the aerospace sector among its strategic emerging industries.