China's new satellite industry city takes shape

A new satellite industry city is taking shape in southwest China's Sichuan Province, following the approval of a commercial satellite ground station project in Meishan, which is working to become a new powerhouse of the industry in China.

The newly approved project, the largest of its kind in Sichuan, marked a critical step in advancing the region's aerospace ecosystem and promoting the country's development of commercial satellite networks as well, Yang Zhenyu, deputy general manager of the Huantian Wisdom Technology Co., Ltd., owner of the new infrastructure, told Xinhua on Friday.

"It is expected to complete the last piece of Meishan's aerospace industry layout, making the city one of the few places in China with comprehensive capabilities in satellite research and development, monitoring and control, application, and data transmission," he said.

The ground station, covering 872 square meters near a local reservoir, will feature a 12-meter-diameter antenna and auxiliary facilities.

Its construction is scheduled to commence in mid-June, with an anticipated completion date in the third quarter of this year, followed by official operations by year-end, said Yang.

"This infrastructure is pivotal for satellite operations," he said.

It aims to address data transmission bottlenecks by enabling autonomous tracking, telemetry, and command for the Huantian Constellation satellites, a major commercial satellite constellation in China for agricultural monitoring, ecological protection and smart city construction, ending the area's reliance on leased external stations, he explained.

Once operational, the ground station will significantly enhance the satellite's data transmission and reception capabilities and stability, he said.

Yang noted that once established, the ground station can not only reduce data usage costs for local enterprises but also attract supporting projects from upstream and downstream sectors. This will help to further expand the "satellite plus" industrial cluster in Meishan, which is just about 70 kilometers away from the provincial capital of Chengdu.

Meishan unveiled its satellite industry development plan (2024-2030) last year, outlining a strategic roadmap to build a globally competitive satellite industry cluster by 2030, targeting an industrial scale exceeding 10 billion yuan (about $1.39 billion).