Qingdao recently released an action plan for promoting high-quality development of commercial spaceflight (2026-2027). As indicated in the plan, by 2027, the industry size will surpass the RMB 10 bln mark, the number of enterprises above designated size will exceed 60, and a system of commercial spaceflight, in which satellite application serves as the mainstay and ocean characteristics stand out, will be established.

The action plan depicts a most inimitable route for Qingdao to develop commercial spaceflight. That is to take advantage of its maritime resource endowments to set up an ecosystem characterized by “spaceflight+ocean”. According to the action plan, Qingdao will place stress on satellite communications, oceanographic remote sensing and offshore launching. While ramping up efforts to develop satellite terminals in marine fishery, transportation, emergency communication and outdoor sports among other fields, Qingdao will take a forward-looking approach to developing intelligent offshore satellite launching platforms, offshore satellite recycling platforms and other related equipment. Furthermore, Qingdao will take steps to accelerate networking in commercial satellite constellations such as low-orbit satellite IoT in an attempt to build its own “urban starlink”.

The action plan puts forward that by 2027, Qingdao will secure more than eight signature innovation achievements in a range of fields from recyclable liquid satellites, new-generation low-cost satellites and critical loads to satellite constellations, set up five innovation platforms at provincial level or above. By speeding up the integration of new technologies and new modes pertaining to commercial spaceflight, Qingdao will build a number of demonstration application scenarios in more than five sectors, and work hard to become a domestically renowned core clustering area in the satellite communication industry and a hub of innovation-driven development in commercial spaceflight. (Yang Guang)