Innovative elements such as capital, talent, and technology are continuously converging on the space sector, driving both industry competition and developmental momentum.
The world is formally entering the "Great Space Age."
On June 13, the highly anticipated listing of SpaceX saw its stock price surge on its first day of trading. After beginning trading on Nasdaq with an opening price of $150 per share—approximately 11% higher than its Thursday IPO official price of $135—the stock reached as high as $176 during midday trading, pushing the company's market value close to $2.3 trillion. It closed up 19% at $160.95, surpassing Tesla to become the world's sixth-largest listed company.
Behind this capital market performance lies a more significant shift: commercial spaceflight is rapidly transitioning from a state-mission-dominated engineering system to an enterprise-led, capital-driven industrial system. Global competition around low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, reusable rockets, and constellation networks is accelerating comprehensively.
At this very moment, China's commercial space sector is also entering a critical development window.
On June 10, at the Third New Business Civilization Forum—the 22nd Anniversary Annual Meeting of Business Review Magazine and the Peking University National School of Development Business Co-creation Day—Xu Ying, General Manager of Public Affairs at GalaxySpace, stated that with continued policy support, continuous technological breakthroughs, deepening industrial chain collaboration, and the dual drivers of capital and commerce, China's commercial space power is rising. It is not only establishing a firm foothold in the vast cosmos but also connecting with the practical needs of economic and social development, propelling satellite internet from technological verification towards scaled commercial use.
Embracing the "Great Space Age"
It took humanity approximately 55 years from launching the first satellite to accumulating a total of 1,000. However, in just the past five years (2021–2026), the number of new satellites launched globally has reached about 9,000. This exponential growth in satellite launch rates marks the comprehensive arrival of the "Great Space Age."
Xu Ying pointed out that the "Great Space Age" has arrived, with the satellite industry experiencing explosive growth and exhibiting four major technological development trends: low-cost, large-scale, low-orbit, and constellation-based. The networking logic of LEO satellite constellations dictates that satellites must form relay-style coverage to achieve global, all-area service, which in turn forces the industry towards mass production and low-cost development routes.
Compared to the Iridium system of the 1990s, today's commercial satellites have achieved a qualitative leap. Taking GalaxySpace's first satellite as an example, its weight is only about one-third that of an Iridium satellite, yet its communication capacity is 1,000 times greater. In other words, technological advancement has brought "Moore's Law to space." Breakthroughs such as the maturation of reusable rocket technology, improved satellite batch production capabilities, and leapfrog upgrades in communication payload performance have grounded the once-distant space industry.
Behind the technological breakthroughs and industrial iteration lies a trillion-dollar market blue ocean. Industry institutions predict that by 2035, the space economy is expected to reach $1.8 trillion, entering a period of rapid growth. Beyond this, space has a significant multiplier effect on the broader economy and society, with a predicted cumulative impact exceeding $80 trillion from 2025 to 2040.
Globally, the capitalization process of commercial space is accelerating. The large-scale IPO of SpaceX, where one of its core businesses—satellite internet—has created impressive revenue, also sounds the clarion call for global commercial space to transition from the technology verification phase to industrial capitalization.
"Innovative elements such as capital, talent, and technology are continuously converging on the space sector, driving both industry competition and developmental momentum," Xu Ying summarized.
Focusing domestically, China's commercial space sector achieved a key policy breakthrough in 2014, formally opening to social capital. After 12 years of development, it has already become an important force in building China into a space power. Data shows that in 2025, domestic commercial space launches accounted for more than half of the annual total launch count, with commercially launched satellites making up over 80% of those reaching orbit.
Xu Ying also mentioned that China's policy level continues to release dividends. The 2026 Government Work Report listed aerospace as a new pillar industry, explicitly proposing to accelerate satellite internet construction. Coupled with the advantages of the new nationwide system, policy, capital, market, and talent are forming a joint force, officially propelling China's commercial space onto the fast track of development.
Expanding the Boundaries of Space Applications
As the first unicorn in China's satellite internet field, GalaxySpace has, since its establishment in 2018, anchored itself in the high-threshold communication satellite track. The company has cumulatively successfully launched 46 satellites in orbit, with a total satellite weight exceeding 20 tons.
Technological self-sufficiency and control are the core competitiveness of Chinese commercial space enterprises. In 2020, GalaxySpace successfully launched China's first Q/V/Ka-band LEO broadband communication satellite, a domestic first, with a measured communication bandwidth of up to 48Gbps, filling a domestic technological gap. In 2022, GalaxySpace completed the batch development of China's first batch of LEO broadband satellites, establishing the country's first LEO broadband test constellation.
Core payloads such as the full-rollout solar array, onboard phased array antenna, and Q/V-band antenna are key supports for satellite performance. Currently, GalaxySpace has achieved mass production capacity for core payloads exceeding 100 sets per year, achieving complete self-sufficiency and control from hardware design and R&D to manufacturing.
On June 9, 2026, the company successfully launched a new-generation smartphone-direct satellite it undertook to develop. This satellite is equipped with a mature full-rollout solar array, which has a considerable area when deployed but contracts to roughly the size of a thermos cup, achieving extreme compression of occupied space—a concentrated reflection of integrated technological capability.
Xu Ying emphasized that the current development of the entire satellite internet and commercial space industry is inseparable from scenario empowerment across all sectors. Satellite internet has long transcended the simple realm of "space hardware," deeply integrating into all aspects of national economy and people's livelihood.
For example, GalaxySpace's satellite internet + drones establish communication links via the LEO satellite network, enabling cross-regional remote drone control for firefighting, providing new solutions for emergency rescue in areas without network coverage like mountain fires and earthquakes. Satellite internet + embodied intelligent humanoid robots have verified the stable operational capabilities of robots without ground network support. Furthermore, relying on GalaxySpace's "Little Spider Web" LEO satellite test constellation, the company completed a LEO broadband communication test in Thailand, demonstrating the safeguarding role of satellite internet in remote medical scenarios. This marks the first time Chinese satellite internet technology has gone abroad and been implemented overseas, continuously broadening commercial application scenarios.
From technological breakthroughs to scenario implementation, satellite internet is completing the critical leap from "usable" to "easy to use." It is foreseeable that satellites will become more intelligent, capable of processing more data, and achieving the integration of communication, navigation, remote sensing, and computing. When these capabilities are truly aggregated on a single satellite, it ceases to be a solitary "metal box" suspended in the sky but becomes a "space base station" capable of connecting every corner of the Earth.
Expedition into Space
From technology verification to scaled commercial use, from government and industry clients to ordinary consumers, China's commercial space sector still faces barriers that need continuous lowering before reaching a period of comprehensive prosperity and explosive growth.
Xu Ying stated frankly that in the two major dimensions of industrial chain collaboration and supporting policy optimization, the space industry still has relatively significant room for growth.
First is strengthening industrial chain collaboration. Commercial space is an ultra-long industrial chain integrating rocket launches, satellite manufacturing, ground terminals, and scenario applications. It requires balanced rhythm across all links to fully release the comprehensive service capabilities of satellites. Although leading enterprises like GalaxySpace have successfully run commercial closed loops, looking at the entire industry, mass application scenarios like satellite internet and smartphone-direct satellites still need continuous development to further stimulate the vitality of the satellite mass consumer market.
Secondly, there is still room for optimization in industrial supporting policies. China's private commercial space sector has only been open for 12 years. Compared to mature overseas markets, the policy system is still being continuously improved in areas such as satellite internet business access and international cooperation rules. With the surge in LEO satellite numbers, competition for non-renewable resources like orbits and spectrum is intensifying. Common issues like space orbital safety and space debris management also require industry consensus to jointly promote orderly industry development.
Beyond this, the industry as a whole still faces the test of high technical barriers, long cycles, and high investment. This poses a significant test for the patience of capital and the long-term strategic planning of enterprises, requiring the abandonment of short-term profit-seeking thinking and adherence to long-termism.
In Xu Ying's view, the next 2–3 years are a critical window period for China's commercial space to consolidate its foundation and achieve breakthroughs in core technologies. In the short term, the industry's core goals are concentrated in three main directions: First, to create intelligent satellites, continuously upgrade onboard data processing capabilities, accelerate the deep integration of "communication, navigation, remote sensing, and computing" technologies, transforming satellites from single communication carriers into comprehensive space computing nodes to enhance overall service efficiency.
Second, to contribute to the maturation of launch vehicle technology, with anticipation for the commercial implementation of domestic reusable rockets to reduce launch costs, increase launch frequency, form efficient synergy between the rocket and satellite industries, and accelerate space infrastructure construction.
Third, to delve into cutting-edge applications, fully promoting the popularization of smartphone-direct satellite technology, freeing satellite networks from the limitations of ground base stations, achieving all-area, dead-zone-free communication, covering scenarios like aviation, open seas, remote areas, and emergency disaster relief, truly serving people's livelihoods.
For GalaxySpace itself, the next step involves a dual-track approach: On one hand, continuously strengthening the technological iteration and mass production capabilities of core payloads like flexible solar arrays and phased array antennas to consolidate hardware advantages. On the other hand, accelerating collaborative cooperation with upstream and downstream partners in the industrial chain, continuously expanding application boundaries, relying on proprietary technology to provide customized satellite internet solutions for various industries, using application feedback to nurture R&D, and building a healthy, sustainable business model.
Looking long-term, the ultimate value of the "Great Space Age" has long transcended the superficial stage of "building satellites and launching rockets."
Xu Ying divides the space economy into three developmental stages: The first stage is the current period of space infrastructure construction, centered on the large-scale deployment of satellites and building the space-ground network. The second stage will see the birth of space factories and space energy base stations, achieving space manufacturing and space energy utilization. The third stage involves the construction of spaceports and space cities, propelling human civilization towards a more distant stage.
From filling technological gaps to achieving independent leadership, from launching single satellites to comprehensively accelerating new space infrastructure, from serving industry clients to benefiting ordinary people, China's commercial space has achieved leapfrog growth in 12 years.
Xu Ying stated frankly: "We are in the 'Great Space Age,' an expedition about courage and wisdom. China's commercial space enterprises will certainly strengthen their confidence, innovate with a sense of responsibility, and press forward unwaveringly. Because this is not only our journey, but also the next step for human civilization."
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