Consumer integration

While GalaxySpace focuses on infrastructure, other industry players are concentrating on the downstream ecosystem.

Wang Hui, general manager of BeiDou Satellite Communication Co, a subsidiary of China North Industries Group (Norinco Group), has emphasized that applications are being rapidly integrated into consumer life.

Pan Ying, deputy chief engineer of the company, highlighted the integration of the BeiDou short message service into mass-market consumer devices. Unlike standard GPS, BeiDou allows users to send their location and status without ground-based mobile signals.

By forming joint ventures to develop new chips, the company has integrated this capability into standard smartphones. Since 2022, hundreds of millions of such phones have been shipped. Beyond phones, the company is collaborating with outdoor apparel brands like Bosideng and Phoenix to embed satellite communication modules directly into outdoor gear.

Pan believes Chinese companies are carving out a unique market position. While Western competitors like SpaceX employ a "vertical integration" model, controlling everything from chips to rockets, the Chinese system is defined by specialization — a "letting a hundred flowers bloom" approach.

Rocket manufacturers focus on launch vehicles, and satellite makers focus on spacecraft. Pan said this model concentrates resources to achieve high-quality system completion in a short time frame.

This specialized approach has been heavily supported by local governments, with the building of comprehensive industrial clusters.

In Beijing, a dedicated satellite town and Rocket Avenue are under construction. In Haiyang, Shandong province, the Oriental Aerospace Port connects manufacturing facilities directly to launch craft.

A standout example of this local empowerment is the Xixian New Area in Northwest China's Shaanxi province. The recent successful launch of the Xiguang-1 06 satellite, developed by the Xi'an Zhongke Xiguang Aerospace Technology Group, underscores the robust support provided by the local government.

As China's first and only in-orbit commercial hyper-spectral remote-sensing satellite with full-spectrum coverage of the 400-2,500 nanometers band, it ushers in a new era of "full-spectrum precise perception". Covering 26 independent spectral bands, the satellite functions like a CT scanner for the planet.

"It doesn't just look at surface morphology, but can analyze material composition, monitor crop health and predict ecological hidden dangers," said Kou Yimin, chief engineer at Zhongke Xiguang Aerospace.

The satellite is already monitoring the growth of tea and traditional Chinese medicine herbs in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, and providing early warnings for landslides in northwestern China's mining areas.

Behind this success is a complete commercial aerospace ecosystem cultivated in the Xixian New Area. Hosting 34 enterprises in the aerospace industry chain, the area achieved an output value of 5.69 billion yuan ($835.29 million) in 2025.

"The success of this satellite sets another benchmark for the new area to cultivate a more modernized industrial system with new quality productive forces," a spokesperson for the Xixian New Area said, adding that they aim to contribute the "Xixian experience" to China's high-quality manufacturing development.