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2026.06.29 14:00 GMT+8

China's satellite production: from one a decade to 300 a year

Updated 2026.06.29 14:00 GMT+8
CGTN

From taking 10 years to build and launch a single satellite to producing hundreds every year, a team with the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has reimagined the process into an assembly-line model similar to car manufacturing, making it faster, more efficient and more cost-effective.

This new approach emerged from a practical demand: satellites need to be deployed faster, on a larger scale and at a lower cost, so services that people increasingly rely on, such as navigation, live streaming and emergency communication in signal dead zones, can become more reliable. For Hu Haiying, Director of Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the most important lesson in innovation is courage: do not fear challenges, and dare to explore the "uncharted territories" of technology.

His message, echoed across generations of China's space program, is simple: keep moving forward.

A Chinese team has transformed satellite production into an assembly-line model similar to car manufacturing. /Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Three assembly lines can now produce 300 satellites every year. /Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

The new approach is  faster, more efficient and more cost-effective. /Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Hu Haiying says the most important lesson in innovation is courage./CGTN

The first satellite Hu Haiying worked on, in the mid-2000s, took 10 years to build and launch./CGTN

China's 15th five-year plan has called for continuing to construct a large satellite internet constellation./CMG

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