On the afternoon of August 27, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the “Guiding Opinions on Optimizing Business Access to Promote the Development of the Satellite Communication Industry.” The “Opinions”point out that the promotion of direct satellite connections for mobile phones and other terminal devices should be accelerated; the construction and application services of satellite internet systems should be expedited, commercial trials of satellite IoT should be organized, and support should be provided for qualified enterprises to rely on low-orbit satellite IoT constellations; satellite communication should be encouraged to innovate applications in various industries and fields such as industry, agriculture, transportation, energy, and urban governance, strengthening the integration with new generation information infrastructure such as industrial internet, vehicle networking, airborne communication, low-altitude intelligent networking, and computing power networks; and various funding channels should be comprehensively utilized to support basic research and core technology breakthroughs in satellite communication, improving the level of key technologies that are self-controllable.
Satellite internet has advantages such as wide coverage, low intercontinental communication latency, support for large-scale flexible communication, low construction costs, and applicability in emergency and other special scenarios. It can fill the coverage blind spots of existing terrestrial internet networks and meet the connectivity needs of remote areas as well as communication blind spots in the air and at sea. Satellite internet involves multiple industries including communication, materials, electronics, semiconductors, and software, characterized by high technical difficulty and significant industry scale.
Satellite frequency orbits are scarce “non-renewable resources,” and the international community follows the principle of “first come, first served.”Therefore, accelerating the layout of satellite networking and seizing frequency orbit resources is of great significance for maintaining national network sovereignty and strategic security. In the face of the competitive landscape where major space-faring nations are continuously increasing their investment in space, our country is also accelerating the construction of a strong space nation. Especially since late July, the construction of satellite internet in our country has significantly accelerated. From July 27 to August 17, the China Star Network GW constellation successfully launched five groups of low-orbit satellites into space, with the launch interval reduced from 1-2 months to 3-5 days, and the total number of satellites launched increased from 34 before July to 72.
Currently, our country has planned three “ten-thousand” satellite constellations, including the “Qianfan Constellation” (also known as the G60 Starlink Project), which has started construction in 2023. The first phase aims to achieve regional network coverage with 648 satellites by the end of 2025, the second phase aims for global network coverage with 648 satellites by 2027, and the third phase aims to achieve 15,000 satellites providing multi-service integration for direct mobile connections by the end of 2030; the “GW Constellation,” led by China Satellite Network Group Co., Ltd. (China Star Network), plans to create a main body consisting of 13,000 satellites; on May 24 of this year, Shanghai Lan Jian Hong Qing Technology Co., Ltd. (also known as Hong Qing Technology) submitted pre-launch information (API) to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The Honghu-3 constellation plans to launch a total of 10,000 satellites across 160 orbital planes.
According to predictions from the Tai Bo Think Tank, in the next five years, the market size of China’s satellite internet is expected to grow at an average annual rate of about12.8% or more, and between 2025 and 2030, China’s satellite launch demand is expected to exceed 7,000 satellites; by 2028, the market size is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan.
Overall, regions such as Guangdong, Shanghai, and Beijing have already shown a clustering effect under policy guidance, with key technologies such as reusable rockets, low-cost satellites, and inter-satellite links gradually achieving breakthroughs. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s “Guiding Opinions on Optimizing Business Access to Promote the Development of the Satellite Communication Industry” is expected to further enhance the enthusiasm for low-orbit satellite internet networking. At the same time, satellite internet is not only a potential huge demand increment for our country in the future but also an industry that can drive the development of the entire industrial chain. Aerospace-grade components represent globally leading advanced manufacturing capabilities, empowering collaborative development across various industries, and space computing power construction represented by three-body computing constellations is also expected to bring new market space.
Today, we have also prepared a “list of companies related to the satellite internet construction industry chain” for your reference. Friends interested in this can scan the QR code of the Guojin Securities assistant below to obtain it for free.
