China To Expand “Space+” Future Industries

Delegates at the Commercial Spacecraft and Application Industry Chain Joint Action Conference held in Shanghai on the 29th confirmed that China will accelerate the development of additional “Space+” future industries.

China Aerospace Science And Technology Corporation, designated as the chain leader for the nation’s commercial spacecraft and application industry, will align its efforts with the national strategy for commercial space during the 15th Five‑Year Plan period. Leveraging the strategic guidance and ecosystem‑building role of a central enterprise, the group will coordinate upstream, midstream and downstream participants to pursue shared development objectives, build new capabilities and establish an integrated industry ecosystem. The corporation plans to implement five major initiatives, among them a program to cultivate future industries that advances new domains such as space digital infrastructure, space resource development, space traffic management and space tourism.

On space digital infrastructure, the plan calls for construction of gigawatt‑scale capabilities and the establishment of a novel space architecture that integrates cloud, edge and terminal layers. This architecture is intended to enable deep convergence of computing, storage and transport resources and to support integrated computing paradigms spanning space and ground.

For space resource development, authorities will advance a major project titled “Tiangong Kaiwu,” establishing comprehensive experimental platforms and ground support systems for space resource exploitation. Priority technical breakthroughs will target prospecting of small celestial bodies, intelligent autonomous mining, low‑cost transfer and transport, and on‑orbit processing.

In the domain of space traffic management, research and development will focus on monitoring, early warning and removal of orbital debris. Progress in these areas is expected to strengthen China’s position in shaping international rules for space traffic governance and to safeguard the secure operation of space infrastructure.

With respect to space tourism, efforts will accelerate the iterative development of suborbital and orbital tourism vehicles, complete relevant unmanned and crewed flight validations, and establish a comprehensive operational framework for space tourism. The objective is to enable regular suborbital tourism flights and to progressively develop orbital tourism capabilities.

The conference, convened under the theme “Uniting Industry Strength To Build A Strong Aerospace Nation,” was guided by the State‑Owned Assets Supervision And Administration Commission of the State Council and the China National Space Administration, and jointly hosted by China Aerospace Science And Technology Corporation and the Chinese Society Of Astronautics. More than 400 representatives attended, including officials from national ministries, central enterprises, local governments from Tianjin, Shanghai and Hainan, research institutes, universities, commercial space companies, financial institutions and relevant industry associations.