In a groundbreaking move, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) has unveiled a comprehensive action plan aimed at accelerating the growth of the commercial space sector and fostering international cooperation over the next two years. The initiative, announced on Tuesday, underscores China’s commitment to integrating commercial space enterprises into its broader space exploration and development agenda. The CNSA has called on domestic commercial space firms to expand their global footprint, particularly by assisting developing nations in establishing satellite-application industries. To facilitate this, the agency has pledged to incorporate commercial space projects into China’s international cooperation framework. A key component of the plan is the expansion of commercial access to China’s national network of civilian tracking, telemetry, and control (TT&C) stations, data-receiving sites, calibration ranges, and validation fields. Additionally, commercial entities will gain access to large-scale test assets, including rocket-engine test stands and space-environment simulation facilities. The CNSA will also establish a national commercial space development fund and broaden government procurement to include commercial capabilities such as launch vehicles, satellites, launch sites, and TT&C facilities in national missions. Local governments are encouraged to set up technology-innovation centers focused on reusable rockets and smart satellites, and to create open platforms for advanced manufacturing, final assembly, and testing. The plan also includes measures to build commercial launch sites, unify space standards, and open space-debris data to enhance collision warnings for commercial spacecraft. Furthermore, commercial firms are urged to pioneer new frontiers in space resource utilization, on-orbit servicing, debris removal, space tourism, and in-space biomanufacturing. The overarching goal of the plan is to achieve high-quality development of the commercial space sector by 2027, aligning with the recommendations for China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), which lists the aerospace sector among its strategic emerging industries.
China’s space agency unveils plan to boost commercial growth, international cooperation
