600 Chinese Commercial Space Firms Exist Today

The firm, which is led by Kari Bingen, a former Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence under the President Donald Trump administration from 2017 to 2020, says that “commercial launch and satellite broadband have
emerged as the clearest examples of Beijing’s ambitions.” The report pointed to the establishment of at least 10 start-ups as direct competitors to State-run Long March.

“U.S. policymakers must understand these dynamics now, before the United States finds itself outpaced in sheer industrial capacity and output,” the firm said, adding that the companies were capable of producing 4,100–5,000 satellites via “gigafactories” and “smart factories.”

SpaceX As the Benchmark

Companies like Thousand Sails have pursued agreements with Brazilian as well as Indonesian companies to “expand rural satellite internet,” the report mentioned, while GalaxySpace, another Chinese firm, “positioned Thailand as a regional hub providing integrated networking solutions and secured agreements in more than 10 countries.”

The firm points to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which consolidates “market-oriented space services such as broadband, imagery, and broadcasting to partner nations,” via the “Space Silk Road” or the “Spatial Information Corridor,” the report said.

Notably, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman had earlier said that the U.S. was in a space race with China, with Beijing targeting a moon landing by 2029, he said.

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