New model rockets ready to "launch" — Multiple benefits in commercial spaceflight continue to unfold

A series of new rocket models are fully assembled and ready to launch, and are expected to bring new catalysts to the development of commercial space.

A reporter from Shanghai Securities News learned in an interview that reusable rockets’ in-orbit and recovery test trials remain a key focus. Once a technological breakthrough occurs, it will strongly推动 the industry’s development. At the same time, the narrative map of the space economy continues to expand.

Recoverable Technology Breakthrough Becomes a Key Industry Focus

In early March, CAS Space and Deep Blue Aerospace successively updated their rocket launch plans. CAS Space’s reusable liquid orbital launch vehicle “Power Arrow II” plans to make its first flight in late March. It will carry the initial version of China’s “Light Boat No. 1” cargo spacecraft for launch. Subsequently, it will be responsible for building a satellite internet network and major national missions, and within the year it has already been approved for four launch missions.

Deep Blue Aerospace’s first “Nebula One” rocket with both “in-orbit” and “recoverable” capabilities set off from the Wuxi base as early as last year, and it is currently standing at a launch site in Shandong. The inaugural mission will not only achieve orbit insertion, but will also attempt vertical recovery of the first-stage rocket.

After the launch of China’s two reusable rockets, the Zuique-3 and Long March 12A, by the end of 2025, this year’s in-orbit and recovery test trials for multiple reusable rocket models have become the most watched and most critical progress in the industry.

When asked about the reasons, Wang Zijing, assistant to the research institute director and chief analyst for computers at Soochow Securities, said:

First, in the past, commercial space faced a situation of “more satellites, fewer rockets.” Although there are many satellite launch plans, the supply scale of rockets cannot keep up. If reusable rockets achieve a breakthrough, it can greatly ease the current supply-and-demand contradiction in terms of launch costs and launch frequency, laying a solid foundation for large-scale constellation deployment and subsequent commercial space applications.

Second, a technological breakthrough will provide a key prerequisite for the industry’s large-scale expansion. Once standardized technical solutions are formed, they can rely on China’s strong manufacturing base to achieve rapid replication and mass production, further driving the development of the upstream and downstream industrial chains of commercial space and generating broader economic momentum.

Finally, technological breakthroughs will also attract more resources to focus on commercial space, especially by guiding capital in both the primary and secondary markets to increase support for the industry, further promoting industry growth.

The Space Economy Narrative Is Accelerating

Just as hot as reusable rockets is the global competition for low Earth orbit satellite resources—at the beginning of 2026, China and the U.S. have respectively applied for orbital resources for 200k and 1M satellites.

“In fact, low Earth orbit satellites are not a new concept.” Li Hanjun, executive co-director of the Shanghai Songjiang XinTong Intelligent Industry Technology Research Institute, said that as early as 1987, Motorola proposed building the world’s first commercial low Earth orbit satellite communication system—the Iridium system. “Today, the key reason behind the competition for orbital resources is that SpaceX’s ‘Starlink’ satellite internet service has proven the strategic importance and profitability potential of its plan. The company broke 10 million users last year, fully demonstrating the commercial prospects of low Earth orbit satellite networks.”

At the MWC 2026 World Mobile Communications Conference held in early March, SpaceX announced the launch of a new brand, Starlink Mobile (direct-to-device satellite phone service), marking a complete strategic shift of its business focus from tablet users to direct-to-phone services. Tablet users need to carry dedicated tablet devices (or fixed terminals) to use the satellite network. With direct-to-phone technology, its user base is expected to expand to a massive scale of 4 billion terminals.

The space economy also has broader, grander narratives: space computing power, space tourism, space manufacturing, space mining… scenes that once existed only in science fiction are expected to become reality, nurturing trillion-level future industrial tracks.

Wang Zijing believes that among these tracks, space tourism and space computing power are advancing steadily: in 2025, China already made attempts to launch computing power satellites; in 2028, commercial crewed flights may conduct their first missions.

As for space infrastructure or space mining, although they are farther away, the imagination space is even broader. Wang Zijing explained with space mining as an example: previously, the Chang’e probes carried by Long March rockets successfully brought back lunar regolith, which can be seen as a prototype of space mining. This means the direction is not out of reach, but the future still needs to cross the technological gap.

Multiple Catalysts Will Strengthen Market Confidence

At present, commercial space is seeing multiple catalysts, which will strengthen market confidence.

On the policy front, the 2026 government work report first提出 “accelerate the development of satellite internet,” and it lists aerospace and aviation as one of the new pillar industries. The “15th Five-Year Plan” outline proposes “improve civilian space infrastructure, coordinate the construction of satellite communication, navigation, and remote sensing systems, and accelerate the networking of low Earth orbit satellite internet.”

On the business front, Lu Xianqing, a senior investment consultant at Huizheng Financial, said that the investment logic for commercial space has shifted from being driven by themes to performance validation. Currently, China’s commercial space launch costs are declining significantly, and launch cycles are shortening, which is driving growth in component supply volumes.

On the technology front, besides the launches of new-model domestic rockets, SpaceX also plans to launch the Starship V3 version in April. If successful, it will again break the limits of reusable rockets’ capabilities and greatly boost industry prospects.

On the capital front, according to the time schedule estimated within the industry, domestic leading companies such as Lanjiang Aerospace and CAS Space have already entered the “fast lane” toward listing. SpaceX expects to initiate its IPO in mid-year, and its valuation could be as high as $1.5 trillion. “These developments will not only attract global capital to focus on the aerospace track, but will also significantly raise the valuation center of gravity of related companies in China’s A-share market,” Wang Zijing said.