Satellite Internet lays the foundation for a new form of "Smart Economy"

Compared to the 2025 government work report, which proposed “continuously advancing the ‘Artificial Intelligence+’ initiative,” the 2026 government work report (hereinafter referred to as the report) explicitly titled “Creating a New Form of Intelligent Economy” as a separate section. The positioning of artificial intelligence in the national development strategy has been further elevated, gradually shifting from a technological action to an important force driving the evolution of economic forms. From “Artificial Intelligence” to “Artificial Intelligence+” and then to “Intelligent Economy,” AI technology is reshaping the entire industrial ecosystem.

The report emphasizes “accelerating the cultivation and expansion of new drivers,” with emerging pillar industries such as integrated circuits, aerospace, biomedicine, and low-altitude economy becoming key directions for nurturing new growth engines. At the same time, the report calls for speeding up the development of satellite internet, creating an upgraded version of “5G + Industrial Internet,” deepening the development and utilization of data resources, improving the basic data element system, and building high-quality data sets. It also calls for improving AI governance.

Notably, this year’s government work report for the first time positions aerospace as a “new pillar industry” and explicitly mentions satellite internet separately. Previously, commercial space had been included in the government work report for two consecutive years.

“This government work report is extremely significant for the commercial space sector. On one hand, it is the first time to explicitly mention ‘accelerating the development of satellite internet’; on the other hand, after commercial space was included in the government work report for two consecutive years, this year it also first positions aerospace as a ‘new pillar industry,’ fully reflecting the country’s attention and expectations for this industry,” said Peng Haomin, co-founder and vice president of Dongfang Space, to the Southern Finance and Economics National Two Sessions reporting team.

“A new space economy era represented by satellite internet is arriving,” said Zhu Zhengxian, co-founder and CTO of Galaxy Aerospace.

Satellite Internet Enters a Strategic Time Window

Currently, China’s aerospace industry is entering a period of rapid development. According to data from the China National Space Administration, in 2025, China achieved multiple breakthroughs in manned spaceflight, deep space exploration, and commercial space, including several firsts. Among them, China’s space launches reached 92 times in 2025, setting a record high, with 311 commercial satellites launched throughout the year, accounting for 84% of the total satellites launched nationwide. The proportion of commercial space in the space sector continues to rise, laying a solid foundation for the development of the satellite internet industry.

The draft outline of the 14th National People’s Congress’s Fourth Session’s “14th Five-Year Plan” proposed “moderately ahead of schedule to build new infrastructure,” with clear arrangements for the construction of the national integrated computing power network, satellite internet, and information communication networks, collectively called the “three networks.” The satellite internet section emphasizes coordinated advancement of satellite internet constellation construction, enhancing launch, tracking, and control support and security capabilities, and accelerating the large-scale application and international promotion of satellite internet and Beidou in key industries and mass consumption.

Satellite internet refers to broadband networks constructed by satellites replacing ground-based stations, supplementing and enhancing terrestrial networks to achieve better global coverage, and has become an important development direction for global communications.

Peng Haomin believes that when data and information generated by satellites can truly be used on a large scale across various industries, subsequent links in commercial space (including rockets, engines, launch sites, etc.) will see faster development driven by societal needs. From this perspective, the country must promote large-scale application of satellite services, with satellite internet being the most visible and tangible application scenario.

“Integrating commercial space into the ‘intelligent economy’ industry chain is a strategic path based on satellite internet to empower large-scale AI applications. Its core value lies in building ‘anytime, anywhere’ space infrastructure to support the rapid realization of new forms of intelligent economy,” said a person in charge of Tianbing Technology, a commercial rocket company.

Under continuous policy support for commercial space, China’s satellite internet industry has entered a fast lane of development, with a strategic time window for construction. In April 2020, satellite internet was included in the scope of new infrastructure by the National Development and Reform Commission, officially elevating it to a key area of national strategic information infrastructure. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the “Guiding Opinions on Optimizing Business Access and Promoting the Development of the Satellite Communication Industry” in August 2025, proposing that by 2030, satellite communication management systems and policies will be further improved, new models such as direct-to-phone satellite connections will be scaled, and satellite communication users will exceed ten million. In November 2025, the China National Space Administration released the “Action Plan for Promoting High-Quality and Safe Development of Commercial Space (2025–2027),” further providing strong policy support for the accelerated development of the satellite internet industry.

Huadong Securities research reports indicate that China’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet construction is accelerating. As technology matures and the market continues to expand, domestic launches of low-orbit communication satellites are expected to see explosive growth in 2026. As China accelerates the capture of space orbit resources, projects like “National Grid Constellation” and “Qianfan Constellation” are being deployed. It is estimated that by 2030, the low-orbit satellite market could surpass 100 billion yuan, even reaching 150-200 billion yuan.

Currently, the GW constellation and Qianfan constellation deployments are in critical stages. These two major constellations plan to deploy nearly 28,000 satellites between 2024 and 2035, requiring 700–800 launch vehicles with a payload capacity of no less than 18 tons per launch over the next 7–10 years.

Among them, Qianfan Constellation has already launched 108 satellites and initially established ground tracking and control networks, with global coverage expected within the year. Zhang Qi, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and chairman of Shanghai Yuanxin Satellite Technology Co., Ltd., pointed out that as a new generation of space infrastructure, China’s low-orbit satellite internet is still in the early stage of “building and using simultaneously.” It needs to accelerate in establishing market position and forming market competitiveness, while also making forward-looking arrangements in the breadth and depth of industry development.

Dongxing Securities reports that in 2025, China’s satellite internet will enter a new stage of accelerated networking and industrialization. Currently, domestic satellite internet projects are led by state-owned enterprises with private companies supplementing. Besides the two major constellations, many private aerospace companies are also deploying their own satellite constellations, such as Galaxy Aerospace’s “Little Spider Web” constellation, Shikongdao’s Geely Future Mobility constellation, and Guodian Gaoke’s Tianshi constellation.

Zhu Zhengxian explained that in satellite development, Galaxy Aerospace has launched over 40 advanced satellites, including the world’s first low-orbit high-frequency millimeter-wave satellite and the first satellite equipped with large-scale roll-up flexible solar wings; in satellite networking applications, the company has built China’s first low-orbit broadband communication test constellation “Little Spider Web” and completed multiple global and domestic firsts in satellite internet application verification; in cutting-edge fields like direct-to-phone technology, Galaxy Aerospace has also developed comparable “Starlink” direct-to-phone technology.

Commercial Rocket Tackles Capacity Bottlenecks

As the “14th Five-Year Plan” begins in 2026, China’s space sector is unfolding a new blueprint, embarking on a new journey toward building a space power. The “14th Five-Year Plan” period is a critical phase for China’s commercial space to transition from “technology validation” to “large-scale application,” with high-density and routine launches becoming core industry demands.

However, industry insiders generally agree that one of the main bottlenecks in China’s satellite internet networking remains the rocket launch capacity.

“We need to recognize that the current main bottleneck in the industry is insufficient rocket capacity and scarce launch sites,” said Peng Haomin. He added that in the long term, the continuous expansion of space economy applications—such as space computing power, space tourism, and larger-scale, broader satellite applications—will be the ceiling for industry development.

Tianbing Technology told reporters that it aims to clarify its role as a “infrastructure provider,” committed to building low-cost, highly reliable, scalable, and routine launch capabilities, forming a complete “design–production–launch” service loop to precisely meet market demands. First, by breaking through the single-deployment efficiency of large-capacity rockets; second, by significantly reducing the cost per satellite through mass production; and finally, by ensuring routine supply through scaled systems.

Notably, in 2026, several new rocket models will make their maiden flights and challenge reusability. Tianbing Technology revealed that the Tianlong-3 has a near-Earth orbit capacity of 22 tons, integrating new technologies such as 3D printing, liquid nitrogen pressurization systems, and triple-redundant computers. It has completed full-system testing of a first stage at sea and the “one rocket, 36 satellites” full-process verification, with its maiden flight progressing in an orderly manner. It is expected to provide efficient capacity options for large-scale satellite internet deployment and increase single-launch payload capacity.

Peng Haomin explained that Dongfang Space’s in-development liquid oxygen kerosene medium-lift rocket “Gravity-2” will achieve its first flight within this year, with concurrent R&D on reusable technology, expected to be validated by year-end. This rocket features high cost-performance, high-orbit launch capability, and reusability, increasing near-Earth orbit capacity to 21.5 tons, reducing costs to SpaceX levels, and capable of meeting large satellite network deployment and medium-to-high orbit launch needs, achieving world-class commercial space launch capabilities.