China's government work report highlights satellite internet as space race i...

by MA Yueran

China has for the first time highlighted satellite internet in its annual government work report, signaling stronger policy backing for the country's commercial space sector as global competition to build space-based communications networks intensifies.

Premier Li Qiang delivered the report on March 5 at the opening of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing. The document called for speeding up satellite internet development, upgrading the "5G + industrial internet" ecosystem, and strengthening the institutional framework for data resources and high-quality datasets.

With both civilian and military applications, satellite internet systems have become a key battleground in global technology competition in recent years.

Separately, fillings with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) shows that between December 25 and 31, 2025, China submitted filings for 203,000 satellite spectrum and orbital slots across 14 constellations covering medium- and low-Earth orbits — the country's largest such filing to date.

Among the applications, the Institute of Radio Spectrum Utilization and Technological Innovation proposed two constellations — CTC-1 and CTC-2 — each covering about 96,700 satellites and accounting for more than 95% of the total. Other applicants include China Satellite Network Group (China SatNet), China Mobile and Shanghai SpaceCom Satellite Technology.

Brokerage Guotai Haitong Securities said the filings highlight China's efforts to secure scarce orbital and spectrum resources as low-Earth orbit becomes increasingly crowded, reserving space for future 6G space-ground integrated networks.

Satellites function much like mobile base stations in space, providing connectivity beyond terrestrial networks. Large constellations can deliver broadband to ground and airborne terminals, creating global networks that provide internet access worldwide.

"The satellite internet sector and the wider space industry are entering a new growth phase," ZHU Zhengxian, co-founder and chief technology officer of GalaxySpace, told Jiemian News. He said innovation is likely to pick up, with new applications emerging and the market expanding, which could make the sector a new driver of China's economic growth.

The report also pledged to launch industrial innovation programs and encourage state-owned enterprises to expand real-world applications, while cultivating emerging pillar industries including integrated circuits, aerospace, biomedicine and the low-altitude economy.

This marks the first time aerospace has been identified as an "emerging pillar industry" in the government work report. The commercial space sector has appeared for two consecutive years: in 2024 it was described as a "new growth engine", while the 2025 report called for promoting its safe and healthy development.

Satellites are at the heart of the commercial space industry, whose activities center on manufacturing, launch services, operations and downstream applications.

China classified satellite internet as part of its "new infrastructure" program in April 2020, when the National Development and Reform Commission designated it a key component of national information infrastructure.

China's low-Earth-orbit satellite internet plans center on two major constellations: the GW constellation led by China SatNet and the Qianfan constellation developed by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology. Both have entered critical deployment stages.

Between 2024 and 2035, the two constellations are expected to deploy nearly 28,000 satellites, requiring 700 to 800 launch vehicles with payload capacity of at least 18 tonnes over the next seven to ten years.

Several private aerospace companies are also building constellations, including LandSpace Hongqing Technology's Honghu-3, GalaxySpace's "Mini Spider Web" constellation, Geespace's Future Mobility constellation and Guodian Gaoke's Tianqi constellation.

GalaxySpace plans to step up investment in technologies such as direct-to-device satellite connectivity, higher-power onboard systems and high-capacity onboard processors, while launching more low-cost satellites to speed up satellite network deployment, Zhu said.

Policy support for commercial space has strengthened in recent years. In November 2024, the China National Space Administration released an action plan for the high-quality and safe development of commercial space from 2025 to 2027, formally incorporating the sector into the country’s broader space strategy.

A draft outline of China's upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), released on March 5, also reiterated the goal of accelerating the country's development as a space power.