A New Frontier in the Space Race Begins
Chinese companies have unveiled plans to launch more than 200,000 internet satellites, marking a dramatic escalation in the global competition for orbital dominance. These ambitious proposals were filed with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations agency responsible for coordinating satellite communications, just as Beijing raised concerns about Elon Musk’s SpaceX crowding shared orbital resources. The filings represent one of the largest constellation proposals in history and signal China’s determination to secure its place in the increasingly congested low Earth orbit environment.
The sheer scale of these proposals has captured the attention of space industry experts and government officials worldwide. With SpaceX’s Starlink constellation already accounting for most satellites in low Earth orbit, China’s move highlights the growing strategic importance of satellite networks for both commercial and military applications. The race to dominate space-based internet services has transformed from a commercial competition into a geopolitical contest with implications for global communications, national security, and the future of space exploration.
The Massive CTC-1 and CTC-2 Filings
The centerpiece of China’s proposal consists of two separate filings designated CTC-1 and CTC-2, each outlining plans for 96,714 satellites. These filings were submitted to the ITU in late December 2025 by the newly established Institute of Radio Spectrum Utilisation and Technological Innovation. According to documents posted in the Union’s database, each filing covers 3,660 orbital planes, representing an unprecedented scale for a satellite constellation proposal.
The Institute of Radio Spectrum Utilisation and Technological Innovation was registered in China’s northern Hebei province on December 30, the day after submitting its ITU filings. This timing suggests the organization was specifically created to manage these megaconstellation projects. The filings are currently at different stages of the ITU regulatory process, with CTC-1 including both advance publication information and a more detailed coordination request, while CTC-2 remains at the advance publication only stage.
Both filings reference a “new operating agency” as a placeholder for their operating agencies, indicating the organizational structure is still being formalized. Although filed as two separate networks under ITU rules, analysts believe CTC-1 and CTC-2 appear to form part of a single strategic effort to secure spectrum and orbital priority for a future next-generation Chinese megaconstellation. This approach could be aimed at securing long-term spectrum priority while preserving China’s options for multiple future constellations.
Understanding the ITU Process
The ITU filings provide priority dates but do not constitute authorization to deploy satellites. What follows will be technical examination by the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau and potential objections or coordination requests from other administrations. The filings have not yet been examined and currently have no regulatory standing, but they clearly signal China’s intent to secure priority for spectrum and orbits for constellations up to the scale of 96,714 satellites each.
ITU regulations, established in 2019, require that satellite systems be operational within seven years of the initial filing. Operators must then deploy 10 percent of their planned constellation within two years, 50 percent within five years, and complete the full network within seven years. These requirements create pressure on China to begin launching satellites quickly or risk losing its claimed priority status.
The Broader Chinese Satellite Strategy
The CTC-1 and CTC-2 filings are just one part of China’s comprehensive satellite network strategy. Additional filings indicate intentions for China Satcom to launch 24 satellites into medium Earth orbit, linked to the low Earth orbit Guowang project as part of a broader architecture. China Mobile has filed plans for constellations of 144 satellites and 2,520 satellites each, having applied to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for a license to provide direct-to-satellite services. Commercial outfit Galaxy Space has also submitted plans for a constellation of 91 satellites.
China is already constructing its national Guowang and Shanghai-backed Qianfan (Thousand Sails) constellations, each planned to consist of more than 10,000 satellites. The Qianfan project, also known as G60 Starlink, represents Shanghai’s entry into the megaconstellation race. The first phase of Qianfan plans to launch 1,296 satellites, with the constellation eventually expanding to 12,000 satellites total. The project is centered in Shanghai’s Songjiang District and includes a satellite manufacturing center capable of producing 300 satellites per year.
The Guowang (national network) constellation, managed by state-owned China Satellite Network Group (China SatNet), has been in development since 2020. It represents China’s most significant satellite internet project and is often seen as China’s answer to SpaceX’s Starlink. According to ITU filings, Guowang will consist of nearly 13,000 satellites operating at altitudes between 500 and 1,145 kilometers above Earth. China has already begun launching Guowang satellites, with 72 satellites placed in orbit as of recent reports.
Commercial Contributions
Beyond state-led initiatives, Chinese private companies are also contributing to the satellite expansion. Shanghai Lanjian Hongqing Technology Company (Hongqing Technology), linked to commercial rocket maker Landspace, filed an API with the ITU for a constellation named Honghu-3, totaling 10,000 satellites across 160 orbital planes. Founded in 2017, Hongqing Technology has gained recognition for developing Hall thruster propulsion technology and is building a satellite manufacturing facility in Wuxi City, Jiangsu province.
The involvement of commercial companies like Landspace demonstrates China’s approach to leveraging both state and private sector resources. Landspace has already secured formal contracts to launch satellites for both the Guowang and Qianfan megaconstellations. The company’s Zhuque-3 methane-liquid oxygen reusable launch vehicle has been selected for the China SatNet core supplier list, highlighting the integration of commercial launch capabilities into national satellite infrastructure projects.
The US-China Space Competition Intensifies
The United States and China have been racing to establish dominance in low Earth orbit satellite networks for several years, with SpaceX currently holding a significant lead through its Starlink constellation. Starlink accounts for the majority of satellites currently operating in low Earth orbit, with over 5,000 operational satellites and plans for up to 42,000 spacecraft in total. This dominance has raised concerns in Beijing about the potential for the US to control critical communications infrastructure.
Radio frequency bands and orbital slots in low Earth orbit are limited resources, creating a first-mover advantage that gives early entrants priority over these critical assets. The US Federal Communications Commission recently approved SpaceX to launch an additional 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites, which must be in orbit by the end of 2031. This approval would bring SpaceX’s total authorized constellation to 15,000 satellites, though Starlink has applied to launch 30,000 satellites, with a decision on the remaining portion deferred.
“The space-enabled targeting that they’ve been able to achieve from space has increased the range and accuracy of their weapon systems to the point where getting anywhere close enough [to China] in the Western Pacific to be able to achieve military objectives is in jeopardy if we can’t deny, disrupt, degrade that… capability,” said Gen. Chance Saltzman, the Chief of Space Operations for the US Space Force, during testimony before a Senate committee in June.
General Saltzman’s comments highlight the strategic concerns driving both nations’ satellite ambitions. China has previously accused SpaceX of crowding shared orbital resources, pointing to collision risks and the potential for space debris. In December, one Starlink satellite experienced an unexpected malfunction and began an unplanned descent. SpaceX has also announced plans to lower the orbit of roughly 4,400 satellites from 342 miles to 298 miles above Earth this year to reduce collision risks.
Military Implications of Megaconstellations
Beyond providing commercial internet services, these satellite networks have significant military applications. US defense officials have long worried that China’s Guowang satellite network might give the Chinese military access to the kind of ubiquitous connectivity US forces now enjoy with SpaceX’s Starlink network. However, evidence suggests the Guowang constellation could offer capabilities extending well beyond a simple broadband service.
Unlike SpaceX’s predominantly commercial Starlink service, the Guowang network consists of satellites manufactured by multiple companies and launches on several types of rockets. This architecture appears more akin to SpaceX’s military-grade Starshield satellites and the Space Development Agency’s future tranches of data relay and missile-tracking satellites. Chinese media reports suggest Guowang satellites could accommodate a range of instrumentation, including broadband communications payloads, laser communications terminals, synthetic aperture radars, and optical remote sensing payloads.
These capabilities would enable what military planners call a “kill chain” or “kill web”—the interconnected links to detect, track, target, and strike a target. This integration of satellites into China’s own kill web could provide Chinese forces with a significant tactical advantage in future conflicts, particularly in the Western Pacific region. The ability to track and target US high-value assets from space represents a major strategic concern for US military planners.
Building the Infrastructure for Massive Deployment
Realizing these ambitious satellite plans requires enormous launch capacity and manufacturing infrastructure. China has been working aggressively to address these challenges, launching a national record 92 times in 2025, surpassing its previous record of 68 launches in 2024. This growth was partly driven by launches for Guowang and Qianfan, demonstrating China’s commitment to deploying these constellations.
To support this expanded launch tempo, China is building new commercial spaceports and launch facilities. A new rocket launch site is under construction in Hainan, which will become the country’s first commercial launch site. This facility is expected to conduct its first launch soon and will help ease the bottleneck in access to launch pads. Additionally, an unprecedented rocket assembly plant is under construction in Hainan to boost rocket production capacity over the next few years.
China is also developing reusable launch vehicles to reduce costs and increase launch frequency. Commercial companies like Landspace, Space Pioneer, Galactic Energy, iSpace, CAS Space, Deep Blue Aerospace, Sepoch, and Orienspace are working on new potentially reusable launchers. Landspace’s Zhuque-3 stainless steel rocket, designed to be reusable, conducted its first orbital test launch in early December. While the stage recovery attempt failed, the successful orbit of the second stage marked significant progress for China’s commercial launch sector.
The Manufacturing Challenge
Beyond launch capacity, China must dramatically increase its satellite manufacturing capabilities to meet its ambitious targets. The country currently has approximately 600 satellites in orbit, far short of the hundreds of thousands planned. To address this gap, China is building extensive manufacturing facilities for satellite production.
The Qianfan project’s satellite manufacturing center in Songjiang District aims to produce 300 satellites per year and lower the cost of a single satellite by 35 percent. Additional manufacturing facilities belong to state-owned entities like the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp., and Innovation Academy for Microsatellites under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Private companies like GalaxySpace and HKATG in Hong Kong are also building significant small satellite manufacturing capacity.
Orbital Congestion and Environmental Concerns
The dramatic expansion of satellite constellations raises significant concerns about orbital congestion, collision risks, and space debris. Low Earth orbit, typically between 250 and 1,240 miles above Earth, is becoming increasingly crowded with active satellites and debris. Each Starlink satellite is built to last about five years before being intentionally deorbited and burned up in the atmosphere, but the sheer numbers involved create ongoing collision risks.
The development will likely renew concerns over crowding, collisions and debris in low Earth orbit. SpaceX’s Starlink is currently the largest operational constellation, but China’s planned additions would dramatically increase the density of satellites in certain orbital regions. This crowding not only increases collision risks but also interferes with astronomical observations from ground-based telescopes.
Ian Christensen, director of private sector programs at Secure World Foundation, noted the urgency of addressing these challenges: “I personally would take the likelihood of the successful deployment of the GW constellation seriously. It should place further emphasis and urgency on the need to improve global coordination practices for the deployment and operation of large constellations. Space safety is an area where there are shared interests between U.S and Chinese actors, including both government and private sector actors, but overall geopolitical trends make meaningful dialogue challenging.”
The Path Forward for Space Governance
The rapid development of megaconstellations highlights the need for improved international coordination and space traffic management. Existing frameworks like the ITU’s filing process provide basic coordination for spectrum and orbital slots, but more comprehensive systems may be needed to manage the increasing complexity of orbital operations.
Brig. Gen. Anthony Mastalir, commander of US Space Forces in the Indo-Pacific region, observed China’s approach to these challenges: “What I find interesting is China continues to copy the US playbook. So as you look at the success that the United States has had with proliferated architectures, immediately now we see China building their own proliferated architecture, not just the transport layer and the comm layer, but the sensor layer as well.”
This parallel development of capabilities by both nations suggests an accelerating space arms race that could fundamentally transform the strategic balance on Earth. As both countries invest heavily in space-based infrastructure, the peaceful use of space faces increasing pressure from military and strategic considerations.
What This Means for the Future
The massive scale of China’s satellite plans represents a significant shift in the global space landscape. If successfully deployed, these constellations would give China global communications coverage independent of Western-controlled systems, enhancing its technological sovereignty and strategic autonomy. The commercial applications could provide internet access to underserved regions worldwide, while the military capabilities would fundamentally change the calculus of potential conflicts in the Western Pacific.
For the global space industry, China’s entry into megaconstellation deployment creates both opportunities and challenges. On one hand, increased competition could drive innovation and lower costs for satellite services. On the other hand, the fragmentation of global infrastructure along national lines could create technical incompatibilities and reduce the interoperability that has characterized much of the space age to date.
The next few years will be critical in determining whether China can translate its ambitious filings into operational constellations. The technical challenges of manufacturing and launching hundreds of thousands of satellites are enormous, and China will need to maintain an unprecedented launch tempo to meet ITU deployment milestones. Success or failure in this endeavor will have far-reaching implications for the balance of power in space and on Earth.
Key Points
- China has filed plans with the ITU for more than 200,000 internet satellites, including CTC-1 and CTC-2 proposals for 96,714 satellites each
- The filings were submitted by the newly established Institute of Radio Spectrum Utilisation and Technological Innovation, registered in Hebei province
- SpaceX’s Starlink currently dominates low Earth orbit with over 5,000 operational satellites and plans for up to 42,000
- China is developing multiple constellations including Guowang (~13,000 satellites), Qianfan/G60 Starlink (12,000+ satellites), and Honghu-3 (10,000 satellites)
- The US Federal Communications Commission recently approved SpaceX to launch 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites by 2031
- China launched a record 92 times in 2025 and is building new commercial spaceports and reusable launch vehicles
- Military applications are a significant driver, with satellite networks enabling enhanced targeting and surveillance capabilities
- Orbital congestion and space debris concerns are growing with the rapid expansion of satellite constellations
- ITU regulations require operators to deploy 10% of their constellation within 2 years, 50% within 5 years, and complete within 7 years
- Commercial Chinese companies like Landspace are securing contracts to launch satellites for national megaconstellation projects
