New model rockets ready to "launch" — Multiple benefits in commercial spaceflight continue to unfold

A series of new rocket models are ready to launch, and could bring fresh catalysts for the development of commercial spaceflight.

Shanghai Securities News reporter interviews revealed that in-orbit insertion and recovery tests for reusable rockets remain the focus. Once a technological breakthrough occurs, it will strongly推动 industry development. Meanwhile, the narrative map of the space economy continues to expand.

Recoverable Technology Breakthrough Becomes the Industry Focus

In early March, CASC Space and DeepBlue Aerospace successively updated their rocket launch plans. CASC Space’s reusable liquid carrier rocket “Power Ray Two” plans to make its first flight in late March. It will carry the initial model of China’s Light舟-1 cargo spacecraft for the launch. Subsequent missions will include building a satellite internet network and undertaking national major tasks, with four launch missions already approved within the year.

DeepBlue Aerospace’s first rocket “Nebula One,” described as both “in-orbit + recoverable,” set off from the Wuxi base as early as last year, and is currently standing at a launch site in Shandong. The first mission not only needs to achieve in-orbit insertion, but will also attempt a vertical recovery of the first-stage rocket.

After the first launches of China’s two types of reusable rockets, the Quessed-3 and the Long March 12A, at the end of 2025, this year’s in-orbit and recovery tests for multiple reusable rocket models have become the most watched and most critical progress for the industry.

When asked about the reasons, Wang Zijing, assistant to the director of the Research Institute and chief analyst for computing at Soochow Securities, said:

First, in the past, commercial spaceflight faced a situation of “many satellites, but too few rockets.” Although there were many satellite launch plans, the rocket supply scale could not keep up. If reusable rockets achieve a breakthrough, it could greatly ease the current supply-demand mismatch in terms of launch costs and frequency, thereby laying a solid foundation for large-scale constellation deployment and subsequent applications of commercial spaceflight.

Second, a technological breakthrough will provide the key prerequisite for the scalable expansion of the entire industry. Once standardized technical solutions are formed, they can leverage China’s strong manufacturing base to achieve rapid replication and mass production, further driving the development of the commercial spaceflight upstream and downstream industrial chains and producing a broader economic stimulus effect.

Finally, a technological breakthrough will also attract more resources to focus on the commercial spaceflight sector—especially guiding capital in both the primary and secondary markets to increase support for the industry, further promoting its growth.

The Space Economy Narrative Accelerates

As hot as reusable rockets, there is global competition for low Earth orbit satellite resources. In early 2026, China and the U.S. have applied for orbital resources for 200k and 1M satellites, respectively.

“In fact, low Earth orbit satellites are not a new concept.” Li Hanjun, co-director of the Shanghai Songjiang Xintong Intelligent Industrial Technology Research Institute, said that as early as 1987, Motorola proposed building the world’s first commercial low Earth orbit satellite communication system—the Iridium system. “Now, for the competition over orbital resources, the key reason is that SpaceX’s ‘Starlink’ satellite internet service demonstrates the strategic importance and profitability potential. The company’s users surpassed 10 million last year, fully proving the commercial prospects of low Earth orbit satellite networks.”

At MWC 2026, the World Mobile Communications Conference held in early March, SpaceX announced the launch of a new brand, Starlink Mobile (satellite direct-to-phone service), signaling a comprehensive strategic shift of its business focus from tablet users to direct mobile phone connections. Tablet users need to carry specialized tablet devices (or fixed terminals) to use the satellite network, whereas with direct-to-phone connection technology, its user base could expand to a huge scale of 4 billion terminals.

The space economy also has even broader and grand narratives: space computing power, space tourism, space manufacturing, space mining… Scenes that once existed only in science fiction are expected to become reality, nurturing future industry tracks worth trillions of dollars.

Wang Zijing believes that among these tracks, space tourism and space computing power are progressing steadily: in 2025, China already had trial attempts to launch computing-power satellites; by 2028, commercial crewed missions may conduct their first flights.

As for space infrastructure or space mining, although they are more distant, the imagination space is also even broader. Taking space mining as an example, Wang Zijing explained that previously, the Chang’e probes carried by the Long March series rockets successfully returned lunar regolith, which can be viewed as a prototype of space mining. This means the direction is not beyond reach; however, the industry will still need to bridge a technological gap in the future.

Multiple Catalysts Will Strengthen Market Confidence

Currently, commercial spaceflight is seeing multiple catalysts, which will strengthen market confidence.

On the policy front, the 2026 government work report for the first time proposed “accelerating the development of satellite internet,” and also listed aerospace as one of the new pillar industries. The “15th Five-Year Plan” Outline proposes “improving civilian space infrastructure, coordinating the construction of satellite communication, navigation, and remote sensing systems, and accelerating the networking of low Earth orbit satellite internet.”

On the commercial front, Lu Xianqing, a senior investment advisor at Huizheng Finance and Economics, said that the investment logic of commercial spaceflight has shifted from theme-driven to performance validation. Currently, China’s commercial spaceflight launch costs are declining noticeably, and launch cycles are shortening, which is driving growth in component supply volumes.

On the technology front, besides the launch of new domestic rocket models, SpaceX also plans to launch the Starship V3 version in April. If successful, it will again break through the limits of reusable rockets, significantly boosting industry prospects.

On the capital front, according to timelines estimated within the industry, domestic leading companies such as Blue Arrow Aerospace and CASC Space have already entered the “fast track” toward listing. SpaceX expects to start an IPO in mid-year, and its valuation could reach as high as $1.5 trillion. “These developments will not only attract global capital to focus on the space race track, but will also significantly raise the valuation center of gravity of relevant companies in China’s A-share market,” Wang Zijing said.