China consolidates new commercial space regulator and industry roadmap

by Riko Seibo
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 03, 2025

The China National Space Administration has set up a Commercial Space Department to serve as a dedicated regulator for the country's expanding private space sector. The new office is responsible for overseeing commercial launches, satellite operations, and related services while coordinating policy and planning for non-state space activities.

Officials have tied the move to the Action Plan for Promoting the High-Quality and Safe Development of Commercial Space covering the years 2025 to 2027. The plan formally incorporates commercial operators into China's national space development strategy and sets targets for industry scale, safety management, and the use of space infrastructure by the end of the period.

China's commercial space industry has expanded quickly, with more than 600 private enterprises active across launch services, satellite manufacturing, ground systems, and downstream applications such as communications and remote sensing. Authorities expect the Commercial Space Department to streamline approvals, unify technical and safety standards, and improve coordination along supply chains that link private firms, research institutes, and state-owned aerospace groups.

The action plan outlines 22 major tasks grouped into five areas: supporting innovation, optimizing the allocation and use of state-owned space resources, increasing procurement and use of commercial products and services, improving management and public service mechanisms, and tightening safety and risk controls throughout research, manufacturing, and operations. It also calls for more intensive and efficient use of launch centers, tracking and control facilities, and space data systems to support both state missions and commercial projects.

Policymakers describe their objective as building new quality productive forces in space-related technologies, including launch vehicles, satellite platforms, and space-based services that feed into digital infrastructure and other sectors. Commercial space is expected to support applications such as disaster monitoring, communications, navigation, and data services that feed into broader industrial and economic plans.

The shift comes as China approaches the 70th anniversary of its space program, which for decades relied on state organs and large contractors to run launch vehicles, crewed spaceflight, and lunar exploration. Policy changes and new funding channels have opened the way for private companies to enter the market, especially in small satellite constellations and commercial services that generate recurring demand for launches and space infrastructure.

Five private launch firms - i-Space, Galactic Energy, Space Pioneer, LandSpace and Orienspace - have already placed payloads into orbit with their own carrier rockets, signaling a transition from a purely state-led model to a mixed public-private system. These and other launch companies are being pushed to increase launch cadence, enhance reliability, and reduce costs while advancing technologies such as partial or full rocket reusability.

LandSpace, based in Beijing, is preparing the ZQ 3 reusable rocket in an effort to compete more directly in the market for reusable launch vehicles dominated by United States-based SpaceX. Chinese officials see the development of such systems as a key step toward building a competitive launch industry able to serve domestic satellite operators and potential overseas customers.

By 2027, the space administration aims to build a more coordinated and mature commercial space chain with clear regulatory oversight, stronger safety and risk controls, and closer links between private enterprises and major state-owned aerospace groups. The goal is to use the commercial sector to reinforce China's position as a leading spacefaring power while expanding the practical use of space-based services on Earth.