China Is Playing Catch-Up to Elon Musk in Space
President Xi wants to build China into a “space power.” But SpaceX’s big lead and China’s security concerns could hinder the nation’s private launch startups.
Spectators watch the Smart Dragon-3, from a subsidiary of state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., rising from a sea-based platform off the coast of eastern China’s Shandong province on Sept. 24.
Photographer: Tang Ke/Avalon/ZUMA Press
From electric cars to civilian drones to solar panels, Chinese companies have rapidly emerged as global leaders in advanced industries that the government considers critical. There’s one area, though, where the nation has fallen flat. More than a decade after President Xi Jinping instituted reforms to jump-start Chinese space startups, the country’s rocket and satellite makers are nowhere near to matching the world’s premier company, SpaceX.
Elon Musk’s company operates more than 6,000 Starlink satellites, providing broadband access from Argentina to Zimbabwe, while Chinese companies have only a few dozen. SpaceX is the pioneer in reusing parts of its rockets, enabling the company to slash its costs, and is now testing the much larger reusable Starship rocket. Chinese companies rely on single-use ones with older technology.