Policy support is an indispensable driving force for industrial development. On the one hand, policy support can directly provide financial support to enterprises and help them grow better; on the other hand, policy support can also help optimize the industrial environment and attract a large amount of social funds to assist the coordinated development of the industrial chain.
On March 5, 2024, during his government work report, Premier Li Qiang proposed to actively create new growth engines such as biomanufacturing, commercial aerospace, and low-altitude economy, which greatly mobilized enthusiasm for the development of commercial aerospace in various places. In 2024, various provincial and municipal governments issued a series of policies to promote the comprehensive development of space science, space technology and space applications, and provide policy support for building a powerful aerospace country. These policies have enhanced the innovation power of the commercial aerospace industry, greatly stimulated market vitality, and accelerated the development of the commercial aerospace industry.
1. Beijing City
(1) Beijing Municipal Government
On January 17, 2024, Beijing released the “Beijing Action Plan to Accelerate the Development of Commercial Aerospace Innovation (2024-2028)”. The plan proposes: focus on researching the technology of reusable rockets being put into orbit, recovered and returned to flight, so as to form the development capabilities of low-cost and high-reliability satellite and rocket products and the ability to build and operate large-scale constellations. By 2028, Beijing’s commercial aerospace innovation capabilities will be significantly enhanced and the industrial energy level will be significantly improved.
(2) Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone
On February 26, 2024, the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone issued “Several Measures of the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone on Building a Globally Influential Commercial Aerospace Industry Highland”. The relevant measures proposed: guided by the “Beijing Rocket Street” and relying on the “Space and Space Street”, a commercial aerospace characteristic park will be built to better build a commercial aerospace industry ecology that integrates satellites and arrows, deep integration of communication, navigation, remote control, and integrated development of space, space and ground information.
(3) Beijing Zhongguancun Science City Management Committee
On May 6, 2024, the Zhongguancun Science City Management Committee released the “Action Plan for Building a Commercial Aerospace Innovation Highland in Haidian District (2024-2028).” The plan proposes that by 2028, Haidian District will initially build an internationally competitive commercial aerospace innovation highland, with a commercial aerospace industry scale exceeding 100 billion yuan, more than 1,000 satellites in orbit, more than 1 million square meters of industrial space, and the cultivation of 100 specialized and new enterprises.
2. Hubei Province
(1) Hubei Provincial Government
On May 9, 2024, Hubei Province released the “Hubei Province Breakthrough Development Commercial Space Action Plan (2024-2028)”. The plan proposes to build a commercial aerospace industry development cluster around the integration of the “four chains” of rocket chain, satellite chain, data chain and service chain. By 2028, the annual development capacity of 60 launch vehicles and 500 commercial satellites will be established, about 5 new listed companies will be added, more than 50 specialized and special new companies will be cultivated, more than 1,000 companies will be included in the database, and the scale of the province’s commercial aerospace and related industries will exceed 100 billion yuan.
(2) Wuhan City
On July 11, 2024, Wuhan City issued “Several Measures for Wuhan City to Promote the Breakthrough Development of Commercial Aerospace”. The relevant measures proposed: within the city, create an innovation cluster for the commercial aerospace industry according to local conditions, build a one-core, two-zone, multi-park development pattern, and focus on the development of new launch vehicles, satellite platforms, ground and terminal product manufacturing, etc.
3. Nanjing City
On August 20, 2024, Nanjing City released the “Nanjing City Action Plan to Cultivate and Develop the Commercial Aerospace Industry”. The plan proposes: focusing on key links in the industrial chain such as commercial aerospace satellite platforms, payloads, rocket launches, and ground equipment, to create a commercial aerospace industry innovation center and development highland with national influence, and further promote the clustered development of upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain, efficient exploration of application scenarios, and collaborative innovation of industry, academia, and research.
4. Shanghai City
On September 30, 2024, Songjiang District, Shanghai issued “Several Policies on Accelerating the High-Quality Development of the Commercial Aerospace and Space Information Industry in Songjiang District”. The policy proposed: focusing on supporting the construction, operation and services of commercial constellations, commercial satellite R&D and manufacturing, commercial rockets and rocket engine R&D and manufacturing, ground equipment R&D and manufacturing, various demonstration applications, etc., to create a commercial aerospace and space information industry cluster with world influence.
5. Guangdong Province
On October 14, 2024, Guangdong Province released the “Guangdong Province Action Plan to Promote the High-Quality Development of Commercial Aerospace (2024-2028)”. The plan proposes: with Guangzhou and Shenzhen as the core, Zhuhai, Yangjiang and other places as fulcrums, create a spatial layout of the commercial aerospace industry for coordinated development in the province. Enhance the competitiveness and influence of Guangdong Province in the commercial aerospace field through advanced deployment of emerging fields such as space manufacturing, space tourism, space security, space resource development and utilization, and space biomedicine.
6. Shaanxi Province
On October 24, 2024, Shaanxi Province released the “Shaanxi Province Action Plan to Cultivate a Hundred-Billion-level Commercial Aerospace Industry Innovation Cluster”. The plan proposes to develop new productive forces according to local conditions, accelerate the cultivation of a hundred-billion-level commercial aerospace industry innovation cluster, and create a global impact It is a highland for the innovation and development of the commercial aerospace industry. By 2027, the manufacturing capabilities of complete rockets, complete satellites, and complete machines will be basically formed, satellite application levels and public service capabilities will continue to improve, the scale of the commercial aerospace industry will exceed 50 billion yuan, and the number of enterprises above designated size will exceed 100.
Summarize:
The above are only some of the policies related to the commercial aerospace industry issued by local governments in 2024. Some provinces and cities have previously issued some support policies related to commercial aerospace, which are still valid. Various local governments have not only provided financial support for commercial aerospace companies and built some common infrastructure through the introduction of relevant policies, but have also made many innovations in pioneering trials. For example, Beijing has pioneered a commercial space launch insurance premium policy, which has reduced risks in the early stages of enterprise development. In the early stages of an industry’s development, it is very important for the government to provide policy support, especially for a high-risk, high-investment, long-cycle industry like aerospace. Breakthroughs in some key technologies require a large amount of financial support. If the government does not release some policy dividends, the enthusiasm of social capital to enter will be reduced, and banks will also reduce their intensity in providing some financial means.
In the past industrial policies, local government policies mainly focused on financial support, tax incentives, land use preferences, etc. In view of the industrial characteristics of commercial aerospace, various localities have actively explored new methods such as building public service platforms, preparing industry guidance funds, providing commercial space launch insurance subsidies, and taking the lead in establishing industrial alliances. In the future, we hope that local governments can not only provide policy support for the commercial aerospace industry, but also conduct in-depth research on the industry chain when formulating relevant policies, and formulate policies that companies can, are willing to use, and rush to use, so as to promote higher-quality development of the commercial aerospace industry.
