Unwilling to miss out again, the "No. 1 province in the north" has caught up with the trend.
There are always people saying that Shandong, a traditional industrial province, has missed out on the Internet, the new economy, and the best intervention periods for many emerging industries. Now, Shandong, which is on the verge of crossing the 10 - trillion - yuan economic threshold, has finally caught up with the trend.
On October 11, the Gravity - 1 (Yao 2) · Hailan Home - branded carrier rocket launched three satellites into the sky from the waters near Haiyang, Shandong. On the same day, Lin Wu, the Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee, made a special trip to watch the rocket launch process and learn about the launch control and support situation.
This was the second expedition of the Gravity - 1, the world's largest solid - propellant carrier rocket, and the 20th sea - based launch supported by the Eastern Spaceport. As the only domestic mother port for commercial space sea - based launches, the Eastern Spaceport has almost witnessed the whole process of Shandong, a "non - traditional space province", integrating into the national commercial space map.
Commercial space is an important part of China's strategic emerging industries and has been included in the Government Work Report for two consecutive years. It is expected that the entire industrial chain of China's commercial space industry is developing rapidly and is expected to reach maturity by the end of the 15th Five - Year Plan period or during the 16th Five - Year Plan period.
The newly released "Several Measures for Shandong Province to Accelerate the High - quality Development of the Commercial Space Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Several Measures") proposes that by 2027, a relatively complete industrial chain will be initially formed, with the aim of having the annual production capacity of 100 carrier rockets and 150 commercial satellites, and the scale of the commercial space industry will reach 50 billion yuan.
How will Shandong's efforts reshape the regional map of the commercial space industry? And how will the three trillion - level cities in the province "lead the way" for Shandong?
1
Seize the Track
So - called commercial space refers to the industry that provides space products and services in a market - oriented way, covering areas such as rocket launches, satellite applications, and space tourism. Although it seems "distant", it is actually "close" to our lives. From TV satellite signals, weather forecasts to navigation maps, all rely on it.
The upstream of this track includes rocket manufacturing, satellite manufacturing, and related supporting equipment. The mid - stream consists of commercial launches, satellite monitoring and control, ground equipment, terminals, and satellite operations. The downstream includes application scenarios such as satellite navigation, satellite communication, satellite remote sensing, and satellite Internet.
A huge trillion - level market has emerged. According to data from the China Commercial Industry Research Institute, from 2020 to 2024, the output value of China's commercial space industry increased from 1 trillion yuan to about 2.3 trillion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 22.9%. It is estimated that this figure will reach 2.8 trillion yuan in 2025.
According to incomplete statistics, in the past three years, more than 20 provincial - level administrative regions have successively issued more than 40 policy plans to support key technological innovation, industrialization, ecological construction, and scenario development in the commercial space field, not wanting to miss this competition in the deep - space economy.
Image source: Official WeChat account of Dongfang Space
Not only traditional space - strong provinces such as Beijing, Shanghai, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Hubei are intensively increasing their efforts, but also "non - traditional space provinces" like Shandong and Henan are finding their own ways and rushing into the field based on their own endowments.
According to an analysis in a research report by Zhongtai Securities, as the core link of the industrial chain, the demand for rocket launches mainly comes from satellite launches. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) implements the "first - come, first - served" principle, which prompts countries to accelerate the satellite constellation networking. China is actively deploying several ultra - large - scale low - orbit constellations, including "Starnet" and "Thousand Sails".
"As of April 2025, the Starnet project had only launched 28 satellites, and the Thousand Sails constellation had only launched 90 satellites, both less than 1% of the planned targets, and the launch progress was significantly behind schedule. In the short term, the demand for satellite constellation networking is clear and huge, and the insufficient frequency of rocket launches has become the core bottleneck," the aforementioned research report pointed out.
Especially with the intensifying competition for frequency and orbit resources, the demand for rocket launches is increasing. Previously, the commercial launch frequency and cost of the four traditional launch sites were not stable, and the sea - based launch, an economical, convenient, and flexible launch track, has gradually come into view -
In June 2019, Shandong successfully completed the first domestic sea - based rocket launch in the waters of Haiyang, Yantai, and immediately launched the construction of the major project of the Eastern Spaceport, which is regarded as "officially kicking off the development of Shandong's commercial space industry".
This is also the beginning of Shandong's exploration towards the sea and the sky. Shandong has a long coastline. The eastern sea area has a low shipping route density, with good safety for launch and fall zones and flexible orbits, which can meet the launch requirements of satellites with different inclinations. This has become the most prominent label for Shandong in the national commercial space map.
2
Launch - Led Development
There was a time when when it came to space launch centers, there were only Jiuquan, Taiyuan, Xichang, and later Wenchang. However, Yantai has risen strongly in the past six years and has become a new pole on par with them.
As the only domestic mother port for commercial space sea - based launches, the Eastern Spaceport has successfully supported 20 sea - based launch missions in China, with a total of 130 satellites launched. It has the launch capacity of "two launches a week in the near - sea area and one launch every two weeks in the far - sea area".
Behind this, the Eastern Spaceport Group, established by Yantai's state - owned assets, takes sea - based launches as the core support and continuously promotes the implementation of the three elements of satellites, rockets, and launch sites. "Thirty aerospace industry projects with a total investment of 32.2 billion yuan have been gathered in one industrial chain."
In Haiyang, the about 6 - kilometer - long Aerospace Avenue connects clusters such as rocket manufacturing, satellite industry, and sea - based launches, and a considerable ecosystem has been established. From the satellite - rocket final assembly workshop to the sea - based launch platform, the entire process from "factory to launch" can be completed within 48 hours.
Image source: Eastern Spaceport
The advantages of this ecosystem are obvious. As revealed by the Eastern Spaceport Group, this design that physically locates the manufacturing, launch, and recovery links adjacent to each other has increased the efficiency of the industrial chain by more than 50% compared with the traditional model.
To a large extent, the successive settlement of a large number of industry benchmark enterprises such as China Long March Rocket, Galaxy Power Aerospace, and Jiutian Xingge also confirms the attractiveness of this industrial chain efficiency. Looking ahead to the 15th Five - Year Plan period, Yantai is also making all - out efforts to build "the most distinctive commercial space industry agglomeration area in China" to further promote the transformation of the commercial space industry from "launch - led" to "full - chain leapfrog development".
From Haiyang to Yantai, and from Yantai to Shandong, Shandong has gradually formed a complete industrial ecosystem of "sea - based launch services - core satellite and rocket manufacturing - aerospace information application" through years of cultivation, following the path of "sea - based launch traction, industrial foundation support, and industrial chain coordination".
Shandong proposes in the "Several Measures" that by 2027, it aims to have the annual production capacity of 100 carrier rockets and 150 commercial satellites, with the scale of the commercial space industry reaching 50 billion yuan, to create a number of domestically leading technologies and products, and to build a new high - ground for the high - quality development of the commercial space industry with national influence.
This also reflects Shandong's determination to strive for the upper reaches in the commercial space map. The 18 support measures, from strengthening space infrastructure and launch capabilities, to promoting the coordinated development of the space industry, and then to achieving breakthroughs in key technologies and ensuring relevant elements, clearly show the intention to promote the full - chain upgrade of the commercial space industry.
As Yan Jie, the deputy director of the Shandong Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, said, Shandong has initially formed a development pattern of the entire commercial space industry chain with "satellites in the sky, rockets on land, ships at sea, and networks in the air". The implementation of the "Several Measures" will make this "pattern" more competitive and accelerate Shandong's transformation from a "participant" to a "leader" in the national commercial space strategy.
3
Re - create the Engine
Not long ago, the Shandong Provincial Conference on the Innovative Development of the Commercial Space Industry was held in Haiyang. Four cities, Yantai, Jinan, Qingdao, and Tai'an, took turns to make "presentations". Among them, as the "youngest" trillion - level city in Shandong, Yantai played the role of a "flag - bearer".
From October 10th to 11th, Lin Wu, the Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee, conducted research in Yantai and guided the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Yantai Municipal Party Committee. During this period, he made a special trip to the Eastern Spaceport in Haiyang, Yantai, to watch the launch process of the Gravity - 1 (Yao 2) carrier rocket and learn about the launch control and support situation.
Lin Wu emphasized in Yantai that Yantai, as a large economic city, should shoulder the mission of taking on major responsibilities, cultivate and expand strategic emerging industries, develop new - quality productive forces according to local conditions, and accelerate the construction of a demonstration city for green, low - carbon, and high - quality development, so as to contribute Yantai's strength to writing a chapter of Chinese - style modernization in Shandong.
This is the new expectation from the provincial level for Yantai and also a highlighting of strategic emerging industries such as commercial space.
Image source: Photo Network 501638851
As the largest economic province in northern China and the third - largest in the country, Shandong's GDP reached 9.86 trillion yuan in 2024. However, traditional industries account for a relatively high proportion. To build an "important economic growth pole in northern China", it needs greater impetus towards the "new". The province has clearly positioned commercial space as a "high - potential new field and new track" in the provincial industrial development and is also promoting the development of the entire industrial chain through the implementation of the "Several Measures".
However, objectively speaking, Shandong is not a traditional space - strong province, and there is still a large gap between its commercial space scale and that of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Sichuan, etc. It is by no means easy for Shandong to become a strong province in the commercial space field.
Currently, the scale of Beijing's commercial space industry exceeds 260 billion yuan. Guangdong is also striving to achieve a breakthrough of 300 billion yuan in the commercial space and related industries next year. Shanghai is expected to reach about 100 billion yuan in 2027. It is an urgent task for Shandong to achieve the goal of a 50 - billion - yuan output value on schedule to gain a place in the commercial space field.
This is by no means a task that can be completed alone. The "Several Measures" clearly propose to promote the formation of an industrial pattern in Shandong featuring "three - core leadership, gradient radiation, multi - point support, and differentiated development" -
Support Yantai to focus on the Eastern Spaceport to build a core area for the development of the entire commercial space industry chain in Shandong, leading and driving the development of the provincial commercial space industry;
Encourage Jinan and Tai'an to focus on the large - scale development of industries such as rocket and satellite manufacturing, satellite operations, and space computing, and build a commercial space industry cluster in the provincial capital metropolitan area;
Encourage Qingdao to build a characteristic industry cluster for satellite applications, give full play to the advantages of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Demonstration Zone, and build a bridgehead for commercial space services for the Belt and Road Initiative.
Meanwhile, other cities should carry out collaborative supporting work based on their industrial characteristics and advantages.
Currently, Shandong is not without the possibility of a leap - forward development. Although Shandong's commercial space history is only a few years old, the manufacturing industries in the "three cores" of Jinan, Qingdao, and Yantai have been accumulating for decades and are expected to be revitalized by the new engine. In March this year, the National Development and Reform Commission officially approved the satellite manufacturing project of Jigang Group, which has attracted industry attention and filled a gap in Shandong.
Just as Haiyang has achieved a differentiated breakthrough through sea - based launches, Jigang has precisely entered the satellite track through component manufacturing, building an aerospace industry ecological chain covering satellite final assembly and manufacturing, satellite core components, and rocket power testing, with the annual production capacity of 100 satellites weighing 500 kilograms each.
Stories like that of Jigang are not rare. The Shandong Aerospace Electronics Technology Research Institute analyzed in the "Current Situation and Challenges of Shandong's Commercial Space Development" that "the geographical location advantage along the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea provides geographical support for low - cost sea - based launches. The accumulation of traditional industries such as equipment manufacturing and new materials has laid the foundation for the coordinated development of the industrial chain. The cross - border integration of the marine economy and space technology has given rise to characteristic application scenarios such as satellite remote sensing and marine monitoring."
These are all Shandong's "special variables". For Shandong, although it has made a good start in the regional competition of the commercial space industry, whether it can achieve a "leap - forward" development in the end is still a major test.
This article is from the WeChat public account "Urban Evolution Theory", author: Dan Zhongkui, published by 36Kr with authorization.