A county is making significant efforts to cultivate future industries. On March 19th, the Xiangshan County Committee of Ningbo organized a special collective study session. The instructor was Xiao Litian, former Chief Expert and Researcher from the Beijing Special Engineering Design and Research Institute. He delivered a lecture titled "Construction of the Next-Generation Space Launch Site System," focusing on the development landscape of the commercial space industry. The "trainees" included all members of the Xiangshan County Party Committee's theoretical learning center group, principal officials from various departments, townships, and sub-districts, as well as representatives from some enterprises.
Bao Chaoyang, Secretary of the Xiangshan County Party Committee, who also attended as a trainee, described the commercial space sector as a "historic opportunity" for Xiangshan's future development. For Xiangshan, developing commercial space has indeed reached a critical moment. Since 2025, over 40 specialized policies supporting commercial space development have been introduced by at least 20 provinces and municipalities across China.
In fact, as early as 2021, Ningbo had plans in the commercial space field. The "Ningbo International Commercial Space Launch Center Project," with a total planned investment of 20 billion yuan, was slated to be located in Xiangshan. Also in 2021, SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, was developing its "Starship" base in the fishing village of Boca Chica, Texas. At that time, the area around the Starship base was mostly scrubland, with engineers and workers troubled by transportation issues. Musk reportedly complained in a biography that the nearest motel was 23 miles away.
Now, five years later, while Starship launches have become more frequent, the planned project in Xiangshan has not yet materialized, which is seen as regrettable. A positive development is that earlier this year, Ningbo Commercial Space Development Co., Ltd. was formally registered with a capital of 1 billion yuan, jointly held by two major local state-owned enterprises. This adds weight and greater certainty to the project's realization.
Space innovation has never been easy. This high-investment, high-risk industry cannot be navigated with omniscience. Even SpaceX faces numerous challenges and failures. However, particularly against the backdrop of strong demand for computing power driven by artificial intelligence, the future direction of commercial space is becoming clearer. Numerous private capitals are making bets, and supportive measures have been introduced from the national to local levels.
Currently, Xiangshan has the potential to seize this opportunity and achieve much in commercial space development. As emphasized in the study session, there is a need to deeply recognize the importance and urgency of developing commercial space from a strategic, regional, and future-oriented perspective, and to strengthen the sense of mission. Discussions with some Xiangshan officials revealed strong motivation and a palpable sense of urgency.
Local officials disclosed that Xiangshan has established a special task force for commercial space-related projects, focusing fully on project approval, accelerating planning and construction, and simultaneously carrying out investment promotion activities. From Xiangshan's standpoint, it is not too late to focus on integrated development involving satellites, rockets, launch sites, and commercial applications, and the county holds a strong hand of advantages.
Firstly, inherent geographical advantages are significant. For commercial space, latitude, airspace, and maritime conditions directly determine launch efficiency and cost, and Xiangshan possesses favorable conditions in all these aspects. Located at a low-to-mid latitude and bordering the sea, Xiangshan's potential launch site conditions are comparable to those of the Kennedy Space Center in the US. Experts believe rockets launched from Xiangshan can better utilize the Earth's rotational velocity, reducing fuel consumption and increasing payload capacity. Southeast-bound launches from Xiangshan could cover mainstream satellite orbit needs like low-Earth and sun-synchronous orbits, meeting about 80% of commercial user demands.
Secondly, there are advantages in industrial chain support. Ningbo has a solid manufacturing foundation, with many leading specialized enterprises in the aerospace sector. Before the Spring Festival this year, visits to a Ningbo company manufacturing satellite reflectors revealed it faces almost no competition in its niche, with orders requiring overtime work. Noteworthy commercial space concept stocks in this year's capital market, such as
More importantly, Zhejiang offers numerous application scenarios. Nationally, the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site in Hainan is already operational as China's first commercial launch site. Other locations like Liangshan in Sichuan and Yangjiang in Guangdong are also actively preparing commercial launch sites. A visit to Wenchang during the Spring Festival confirmed the significant boost rocket launches give to local tourism. However, in terms of practical application scenarios like satellite applications and space-based computing, these areas currently lag somewhat. Weak application development is a common challenge for many regions pursuing commercial space.
Currently, Zhejiang has strong demand in areas like satellite remote sensing and space-based computing, providing a series of scenarios and broad application space. As a commercial endeavor, the space sector cannot completely defy economic principles; the market will intelligently select regions with the strongest developmental advantages. Looking at Zhejiang's industrial history, the effective combination of market forces and proactive government support can foster industries with promising prospects. Facing this historic opportunity, Xiangshan must act with urgency.
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