China's commercial space progress highlighted at a Beijing exhibition

China's commercial space industry is being propelled by rapid technological progress, as companies expand capabilities in launch vehicles, satellite manufacturing and space applications, with the latest advances unveiled in Beijing during a major commercial aerospace exhibition last weekend.

The industry's push toward reusable launch technology accelerated over the past two months.

On December 3, LandSpace carried out the maiden orbital flight of its Zhuque-3 (ZQ-3) rocket, reaching orbit while attempting first-stage recovery. In January, China began building a sea-based recovery test platform for commercial rockets to support offshore recovery trials.

Zhu Xiaodong, the chief designer of ZQ-3 confirmed at the expo that the company aims to achieve its first successful booster recovery in 2026 and conduct partial reflight of recovered components, a key step toward operational reuse.

Yang Di, a representative from iSpace, a launch rocket developer company, analyzed R&D expenses for reusable versus non-reusable rockets. "Sending a rocket to orbit first and then developing reusability features costs more than directly developing an orbital reusable rocket," he explained. 

iSpace aims to launch the maiden flight of its reusable Hyperbola-3 rocket this year, joining the growing ranks of firms testing such technology, said Yang.

Reusable launch capability plays a key role in cutting costs and sustaining the high launch rates needed for satellite constellations.

LandSpace is building up manufacturing capacity to produce up to 30 rockets a year, with a guaranteed launch rate of at least 20 missions annually, to support the rapid deployment of China's satellite constellations, Zhu said.

"There's significant interest in our innovations like low-cost mass production and flexible solar wings," said Huang Heping, a market manager from satellite manufacturer GalaxySpace, a key supplier for China's internet satellite constellation project.

In 2026, GalaxySpace will continue promoting China's satellite internet capabilities and solutions by expanding overseas application demonstrations and testing cooperation, Huang said.

Currently, most commercial space applications focus on scientific research, while early efforts in space tourism have begun to appear.

This month, CAS Space's Lihong-1 spacecraft completed its maiden flight, reaching approximately 120 kilometers and carrying Chinese rose seeds. It also conducted an in-space metal 3D-printing experiment.

Meanwhile, the company has established a joint space medicine lab with a hospital based on this concept. "It can bring data back quickly, accelerating the iteration of new drug development," said Fan Na, vice president of CAS Space. 

"The near space at altitudes of 100 to 200 kilometers is an ideal experimental environment for microgravity research like space manufacturing and biomedicine,” Fan explained.

On Friday, commercial spacecraft developer InterstellOr, which plans to tap the space tourism market, announced that about 20 people have signed up for the trip, including an actor, a top engineer, a poet and a businessman.

The spacecraft will carry up to seven passengers to the Kármán line, or the border between Earth's atmosphere and outer space, at an altitude of about 100 kilometers, for a weightless experience that would last between three to six minutes.

(With input from Xinhua)