{
  "id": 3897408,
  "title": "China’s commercial space sector expands global footprint with Thailand deal",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/chinas-commercial-space-sector-expands-global-footprint-with-thailand-3897408",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-28T05:00:12.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SCMP Business",
    "slug": "scmp-business",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3365534/chinas-commercial-space-sector-expands-global-footprint-thailand-deal"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "China's GalaxySpace has successfully launched its first turnkey satellite export to Southeast Asia, marking a significant expansion of its commercial space sector's global influence. The satellite, Lingzhi-09 Thailand CubeSat, was deployed from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi province aboard a Long March-6C rocket alongside six other satellites. Developed for Thailand's Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), the CubeSat will gather remote-sensing data for applications in land, agriculture, and ecology, as well as provide practical training for Thai university students.\n\nThis marks the first instance where a Chinese commercial space company has developed, launched, and deployed a fully functional satellite for a Southeast Asian customer as a complete solution, showcasing the sector's capability to deliver integrated services encompassing satellite delivery, operations, and training. GalaxySpace, China's first commercial space unicorn valued at over US$1 billion, provided GISTDA with an integrated package comprising the spacecraft, ground system, and personnel training. Thai personnel were trained in China, and GalaxySpace subsequently dispatched teams to Thailand to assist in building and testing the ground system.\n\nThis overseas move underscores China's strategy to shift from exporting products to exporting services and ecosystems, transforming satellite technology into an end-to-end service offering for international markets. This push coincides with China's commercial space sector intensifying satellite constellation deployment and overseas expansion, challenging SpaceX's Starlink project. Other Chinese companies like SpaceSail and Geespace are also exploring overseas markets, with SpaceSail securing approval to provide satellite communications services in Brazil and Geespace conducting trials in more than 20 countries across the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, and Latin America.\n\nHowever, the sector's ability to export satellites is constrained by its domestic launch capabilities. Chinese launch services can cost around US$20,000 per kilogram, compared to SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9 at approximately US$2,700 to US$3,000 per kilogram. Despite this gap, Chinese launch services have recently made progress, with LandSpace achieving a successful land-based recovery of its Zhuque-3 rocket's first stage. GalaxySpace, established in 2018, has launched more than 40 spacecraft since its inception and is currently preparing for an A-share listing, joining a dozen other commercial space firms seeking to tap China's capital markets.",
  "summary": "Beijing-based GalaxySpace’s deployment this week of what it called China’s first turnkey satellite export to Southeast Asia underscores how the country is boosting its space influence overseas amid competition with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. GalaxySpace said it launched the Lingzhi-09 Thailand CubeSat aboard a Long March-6C rocket – alongside six other satellites – from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post",
        "title": "China’s commercial space sector expands global footprint with Thailand deal",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/chinas-commercial-space-sector-expands-global-footprint-with-thailand",
        "published": "2026-08-28T05:00:12.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}