Chinese satellite enterprises provide expanded, improved global services

BEIJING -- Chinese space companies have been expanding their satellite services, including communication, navigation and remote sensing, while also accelerating the deployment of satellite constellations in pursuit of better services.

At the start of 2025, China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), which offers commercial launch and satellite in-orbit delivery services, completed the delivery of an intelligent remote sensing satellite, known as IRSS-1, to an Omani company.

Launched on Nov 11, 2024, this one-meter resolution satellite weighs 95 kilograms and has a design life of five years. It will be used for surveys of land and forests, as well as urban planning and disaster monitoring.

The successful delivery of the satellite will play an important role in improving Oman's remote sensing satellite application capabilities, the CGWIC said.

Wide remote sensing coverage

Users from around the world who log on to the website of Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co Ltd, can browse satellite images captured by the company's Jilin-1 satellite constellation.

The Jilin-1 constellation, which had its first group of satellites launched back in October 2015, now features more than 117 satellites and is capable of observing any point on the globe about 40 times a day, according to Huang Jian, head of Chang Guang's overseas business data application.

The Jilin-1 constellation can cover the world six times a year and the entire China 24 times annually, and so can provide frequent updates of satellite images of any location, Huang said, while adding that this capability supports the company's overseas business expansion.

Chang Guang has been cooperating with more than 130 overseas users in providing services regarding land surveys, urban building investigations, agriculture and forestry.

In response to disasters and emergencies, the company has recently provided satellite images of fires and floods in different parts of the world, following a request from the United Nations.

Notably, the company is planning a new constellation consisting of 200 satellites, according to Xuan Ming, chairman and general manager of Chang Guang. This new constellation will have a spatial resolution of 20 centimeters and can cover the entire globe once a day.

Its temporal resolution, combined with the contribution of the Jilin-1 constellation, will make it possible to revisit any point on Earth within approximately three minutes.

Efficient communication networks

The commercialization of China's aerospace sector started in 2014, when the country's State Council, in a guideline, encouraged private capital to participate in the construction of national civil space infrastructure.

Founded in 2018, Geespace is a science and technology innovation enterprise under the Chinese automaker Geely. It currently operates 30 satellites in three orbital planes, thereby achieving 24-hour coverage of 90 percent of the world, and provides satellite communication services to overseas users.

These satellites are part of the Geesatcom constellation. The low-orbit communication constellation can enable direct satellite connection for automotive autonomous driving, intelligent internet connection, smartphones and other consumer electronic products.

Geesatcom in June 2024 completed its first commercial deployment test in the Middle East. It will cooperate with a number of global operators in switching on a worldwide commercial application.

Through a combination of Geesatcom and its ground system, Geespace provides global medium-and-low-speed satellite communication operations, satellite-based high-precision positioning services and a satellite remote sensing AI service, according to Wan Yang, founder of Geespace.

In the future, Geespace expects to provide access to its satellite application services to clients in both Southeast Asia and Africa.

Another Chinese commercial satellite constellation, Spacesail, will provide satellite communication services to Brazil and broadband internet access for that country's remote and under-served regions from 2026.

Spacesail is a low Earth orbit mega-constellation with full frequency bands and a multi-layer and multi-orbit design. Its commercial network construction was officially launched on Aug 6, 2024.

The market for connecting smartphones directly to satellites has become increasingly promising. "Except for the North Pole and South Pole, almost any location on Earth, including oceans, deserts and remote mountainous regions where traditional communications are difficult to achieve, will enjoy a stable network connection — with smartphones directly connected to satellites," said Wang.

By the end of June 2024, 546 commercial space enterprises were registered and effectively operating in China, China Space Foundation Secretary General Wang Cheng said in November last year at the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition (Airshow China) in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong province.

This booming development of Chinese commercial satellite companies was firmly supported by a series of related policies.

China has issued both a medium- and long-term development plan for civil space infrastructure for the period from 2015 to 2025, aiming to support and regulate the development of its commercial space industry.

The country is also mapping a development plan for civil space infrastructure from 2026 to 2035, according to Li Guoping, chief engineer at the China National Space Administration (CNSA).