Forge a Chinese approach to space governance, AOE China Space Orbit Data, Kaiyun Aerospace offers the world one more choice.
The global commercial aerospace industry has entered a concentrated networking period for mega-constellations, with the number of on-orbit space targets continuing to surge. Currently, there are approximately 68,450 space objects larger than 10 centimeters in orbit, of which around 11,300 are active payloads; there are about 1.5 million debris pieces measuring 1 to 10 centimeters, and the estimated number of tiny debris pieces ranging from 1 millimeter to 1 centimeter reaches 230 million. High-speed flying debris keeps pushing collision risks to higher levels, and space situational awareness has evolved from a supporting link for aerospace operations in the past to the underlying infrastructure that supports the entire commercial aerospace industry to move forward. The AOE space data base is an autonomous and trusted space target cataloging and data service platform developed by Kaiyun Aerospace based on the Xinghan Program space-ground coordinated observation network, serving global users. The project launched the construction of the Xinghan Program in 2021, planning to deploy ground-based space observation stations in 30 countries around the world, and simultaneously build a space-based observation network composed of 4 constellations with a total of 408 satellites, matched with self-developed orbit algorithms to implement the AOE space data base, which is currently in the stage of expanding to diversified industry scenarios.
Anchor on the core scenario of supplying autonomous and trusted space orbit data
The domestic industry has long relied on the TLE orbit dataset released by overseas NORAD, whose data is constrained by external supply, limited in accuracy, lagged in update, and poorly adapted to specific scenarios of domestic constellations, making it difficult to support the routine operation and maintenance of constellations and refined collision warning.
Orbit cataloging, debris monitoring, and on-orbit risk assessment have gradually become rigid industry demands with the development of aerospace technology, and are gradually applied to fields such as rocket launch, constellation operation and maintenance, satellite insurance, disaster relief, and scientific research. TLE data is used globally, and there is a lack of standardized space data products that support stable subscription, continuous iteration, and more scenario-based functions. With the successive implementation of policies related to space traffic management and data element circulation, the Xinghan Program and the AOE space data base have gained real industrial footholds.
Based on the space-ground integrated observation system of the Xinghan Program, the project takes "observable, calculable, manageable and usable" as its core positioning, and its products are directly bound to scenarios such as satellite on-orbit operation and maintenance, collision risk assessment, space debris tracking, and space traffic management. The target customers are also very clear: commercial constellation operators, aerospace research institutes, universities, aerospace insurance institutions, and entities related to space traffic management.
It provides launch and orbit entry support for rocket enterprises; carries out on-orbit operation management and collision risk management for constellation operators; outputs comprehensive space situational awareness for scientific research and special entities; and further extends to innovative businesses such as space asset evaluation, on-orbit risk pricing, and space insurance finance, covering the full life cycle of space assets. The customer group covers special government-end users, university research institutes, mega-constellation operators such as SatNet, as well as financial institutions. The government-end users form a stable basic market, while mega-constellations will release large-scale incremental demand after 2027, pushing the market volume to jump from tens of millions to the 100-million level and then the tens-of-billions level, with a long-term outlook of hundreds of billions of scale.
Xinghan global networking as the foundation of situational awareness, algorithm empowerment to build a standardized data base
In terms of technical route, the project follows the path of "Xinghan network building as the foundation, data base for empowerment". The Xinghan Program deploys situational awareness capabilities in two lines: on the one hand, it sets up distributed ground-based observation nodes, and gradually completes the deployment of ground-based space observation stations covering 30 countries around the world; on the other hand, it plans to deploy 4 space-based observation constellations with a total of 408 sensing satellites, realizing space-ground complementation and global full coverage. The AOE space data base aggregates multi-source observation data from space-based and ground-based sources collected by the Xinghan network, completes the detection, tracking, database construction and cataloging of space targets, and relies on self-developed orbit algorithms to output capabilities including orbit prediction, collision risk assessment and debris tracking, matched with a complete mechanism for data governance, security management and control, and element circulation.
The team keeps core links such as observation equipment calibration, original observation data production, and orbit determination algorithm iteration in its own hands to avoid being constrained by others on data sources. At the same time, it cooperates with industry, university and research institutes to tackle key technologies such as micro debris capture and high-frequency orbit determination for low-orbit targets, deploy related intellectual property rights, and continuously raise technical barriers.
AOE Links to the Future
What the AOE space data base aims to do seems basic, but it affects the overall situation: it aggregates scattered satellite orbit data, observation data and historical data to build a unified, open and schedulable data base. It targets very specific pain points — in the past, searching for a lost satellite often took several days, and the commercial satellite data of different parties were isolated from each other, making it difficult to coordinate scheduling in emergency situations. AOE is built to break the "information silos" in the space sector.
Around this data base, AOE is extending its reach to a wider range of industry scenarios:
Special sectors: real-time orbit tracking, collision warning, emergency response, compressing the positioning time of lost satellites from several days to several hours;
Commercial aerospace: integrating the orbit data of various commercial satellites to realize unified scheduling and coordinated observation, leading the commercial aerospace industry from "fighting independently" to "joint operation";
Finance and insurance: introducing satellite remote sensing data and orbit information into risk assessment and insurance actuarial calculation, finding a direct financial realization path for aerospace data;
Scientific research and education: opening data interfaces to universities and research institutions to lower the scientific research threshold for space science and astronomical observation;
Public science popularization: ordinary users can also "watch the stars" through AOE, making aerospace no longer the exclusive narrative of the national team.
To make the ecosystem operate smoothly, openness is the key. Kaiyun Aerospace is willing to open and share its own satellites, ground stations and data capabilities, and this attitude itself is not easy. But aerospace is never a cause that can be accomplished by a single player — technology is only the base, and only by gathering more partners to join in can the ecosystem truly function. For AOE, the goal is not to build a brighter satellite, but to build a bridge, so that space data can truly flow and link up all scenarios including special sectors, commerce, finance, scientific research and the public.
In 2026, Kaiyun Group has completed a 500 million-yuan Series A financing, and has received support from many institutions including Beijing Commercial Aerospace and Low-altitude Economy Industry Investment Fund, Wuxi Liangxi Science and Technology City Industry Investment, Dachen Caizhi, China Commercial Fund, Shenwan Hongyuan, Yunbai Capital, Bohua Capital, West Lake Sci-Tech Innovation Investment, and Shunxi Fund. This financing, pooling the strength of diverse capital, will help the company accelerate core technology R&D, space-ground integrated space infrastructure construction and commercial application.