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An artist’s rendering of Elon Musk’s Starlink low Earth orbit satellite in orbit. As of November 2020, SpaceX has launched 955 such satellites for the Starlink system’s global service coverage. Photo: Handout
TechPolicy

Beijing sets up satellite internet measures as China aims to build new space infrastructure

  • Beijing is the latest Chinese city to initiate policy measures for satellite-based internet development
  • The nation’s capital is home to a comprehensive supply chain for satellite manufacturers and space transport services
China technology
Xinmei Shen
Xinmei Shen
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Beijing is rolling out a series of policy measures, including financing, to support the country’s development of a satellite internet services industry, according to a notice published on Wednesday by the city’s Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology.

Satellite-based internet services are expected to enable broader online access for people and enterprises in China’s remote and poorer areas, as well as for those in the country’s aviation and maritime industries.

The policy initiative by the nation’s capital marked the latest satellite internet development programme by a major Chinese city, following those rolled out by other local governments including Shanghai, Wuhan and Chongqing, according to Lan Tianyi, chief executive of Beijing-based space consulting firm Ultimate Blue Nebula.

The Beijing bureau said in its notice that it will support both state-owned companies and private satellite internet firms to develop their operations in the city, while helping them attract talent and receive favourable tax and housing arrangements. It aimed to help these enterprises develop satellite-based internet applications in industries such as logistics and aviation.

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The bureau said it also aims to help establish a leading industrial base for satellite internet constellation – communications satellite operations providing online access – by the end of China’s 14th five-year plan in 2025. That development would provide various services platforms and use cases, while creating a “complete satellite internet industry value chain”, according to the bureau’s notice.

“This is an increasingly common theme,” said Blaine Curcio, founder of Hong Kong-based space consultancy Orbital Gateway Consulting. “Local and provincial governments in China try to pick a specific space industry vertical, oftentimes as emphasized by Beijing, to develop as part of their medium-term economic development plans.”

Beijing’s new satellite internet policy effort comes amid a global race to compete against Elon Musk’s Starlink, which has already launched nearly a thousand low Earth orbit satellites in a bid to provide satellite internet access services around the world. Starlink’s satellites, which have started tests in the US, are made and launched by Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp, more widely known as SpaceX.

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The Chinese capital may be the most well-positioned to help China’s satellite internet ambitions. Ultimate Blue Nebula’s Lan said private satellite manufacturers and space transport providers based in Beijing could make up as much as 80 per cent of the nascent Chinese satellite internet industry’s overall supply chain.

In April last year, China added satellite internet, along with 5G and artificial intelligence technologies, to a list of “new infrastructure” development that would be accelerated with government support.
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