China’s state-run spaceflight program is riddled with systemic issues that hamper growth. However, its private spaceflight industry already shows promise despite being in its infancy. Though the world’s most populous country has so far failed to create anything akin to SpaceX or Blue Origin, the effort is now undeniably underway.
China boasts the world’s biggest GDP according to the International Monetary Fund, so Beijing-based companies — tied to the politburo as they may be — deserve to be taken seriously. In a sense, communism makes them more serious competitors in a capitalist market because of the support they receive from universities, hedge funds, and the government. Though little tangible progress has been made, it is reasonable to expect private companies will be involved in Chinese launch operations and spacecraft management in the near future.
The same way NASA doled out contracts to many different companies to buoy the industry, China will likely spread the love (read: money) as it continues to invest in space travel. With another Chinese space lab set to go into orbit this year, it would make sense for the country to get its private companies more directly involved in the spacecraft’s maintenance
Here are the three Chinese spaceflight companies to watch:
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