2025 Commercial Space Conference and Exhibition Photo: courtesy of organizers

 
The 2025 Commercial Space Conference and Exhibition held its grand opening ceremony on Tuesday in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, embracing the theme "Exploring the Future, Building the Space Dream Together." 

Running through Wednesday, the 2025 conference highlights four core areas: in-orbit services and operations, satellite manufacturing and application services, commercial rocket transportation, and advanced space technologies.

Over 350 notable attendees, including top executives and specialists from leading domestic and international commercial space companies, aerospace research institutions and universities, satellite R&D and manufacturing, satellite service applications, commercial rocket development, launch infrastructure, and pioneering tech firms, convened in Shenzhen to explore emerging opportunities in the commercial space landscape.

China's 2025 Government Work Report has underlined the need to promote the safe and sound development of commercial space, the low-altitude economy, and other emerging industries. This was the second mention of commercial space in the Government Work Report since a first in 2024 edition. 

With the firm support from government policies, the sector is expected to continue its strong growth momentum and yield more technology breakthroughs this year, hailed industry insiders approached by the Global Times on Tuesday on the sidelines of the commercial conference.

According to the Securities Daily, a media outlet authorized by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, China's commercial space industry will enter a phase of transformation and upgrading in 2025, with the market size expected to exceed 2.5 trillion yuan ($344 billion), and international cooperation set to continue expanding.

2025 Commercial Space Conference and Exhibition Photo: courtesy of organizers

Duan Xiao, the chief designer of the satellite system of the leading Chinese private space star-up GalaxySpace, told the Global Times on Tuesday that currently, space infrastructure development is emerging as a new engine for global economic growth. 

According to a report by the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), the global space economy is projected to reach a value of $1 trillion by 2040.

Duan disclosed that GalaxySpace has built an advanced smart satellite factory. The facility's production line leverages cutting-edge intelligent equipment, including smart assembly robots, AGVs (automated guided vehicles) and automated measurement systems, paired with sophisticated software platforms such as digital manufacturing systems and automated integrated testing systems. This setup supports the full production of satellites weighing up to 2,000 kilograms, with the line capable of producing 100 satellites annually, according to Duan.

At present, the company is working on the development of next-generation communication satellites capable of direct smartphone connectivity, accelerating the embrace of the 6G era, Duan said. 

The company has recently demonstrated mobile-to-satellite communication technology based on China's first low-Earth orbit (LEO) broadband communication experimental constellation, successfully connecting Beijing and Bangkok, in a high-quality video link.

Space Pioneer, a Chinese private rocket company specializing in medium-to-large liquid launch vehicles and liquid oxygen-kerosene rocket engines, and notable as the world's first private entity to successfully launch a liquid rocket on its maiden flight, announced to the Global Times on Tuesday that its newly developed Tianlong-3, a large-scale liquid launch vehicle aimed at rivaling SpaceX's Falcon 9, is targeting its inaugural flight in 2025.

According to the statement, the Tianlong-3 is projected to progressively reach a commercial launch capacity of over 30 flights annually starting in 2025.

Landspace, another private rocket maker based in Beijing, revealed to the Global Times on Tuesday the company's ZQ-3 reusable rocket, which has successively completed vertical takeoff and landing flight tests at the 100-meter and 10-kilometer levels, is set to make its inaugural flight this year.  

Founder and CEO of Landspace, Zhang Changwu, told the Global Times that the company is accelerating the development of the ZQ-3 rocket, and they are planning to achieve first-stage recovery through three launch missions, with routine operations of the Zhuque-3 rocket expected to commence in 2026.

The company is now testing the supporting legs for the reusable rocket in Beijing and according to Wang Minggang, chief scientist of the ZQ-3 rocket landing system, these landing support legs will deploy when the rocket is approximately 100 meters from the ground during the recovery process, allowing it to "stand firm." 

The legs would unfold in three to four seconds, operating under a relatively heavy load condition, but the safety factor remains high, and the testing results in terms of load-bearing capacity are considered satisfactory, Wang said.