China’s constellation plans: The Middle Kingdom entering low Earth orbit

The space sector has been taken by storm with the plethora of low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband constellations being planned. The most noteworthy is likely Starlink, but others such as OneWeb, Telesat Lightspeed, and Amazon’s Kuiper have been making rapid progress. 

Meanwhile, halfway around the world, China has been building up its capabilities in small satellite manufacturing, batch launches, and satellite applications in anticipation of its own LEO broadband constellation(s). While the exact LEO plans of the powers that be in Beijing remain uncertain, we have seen a handful of hints and recent updates that can point us in the direction of momentum.