China has one of the most active space programs in the world. With launch vehicles of the Long March rocket family and four spaceports (Jiuquan, Taiyuan, Xichang, Wenchang), China conducts the most or second most orbital launches each year, and is one of three countries with a human spaceflight capability. China's fleet of over 1,300 Earth orbit satellites serves communication, navigation, reconnaissance and scientific research. China Manned Space Program operates Tiangong, one of two active space stations alongside the International Space Station (ISS). Most space operations are conducted by civilian China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the military People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force (PLAASF). CNSA has achieved robotic rover, lander, and orbiter missions to the Moon and Mars. PLAASF directs the Astronaut Corps and its Deep Space Network.
From the 1950s, aided by the Soviet Union, development began on China's nuclear weapons, Dongfeng ballistic missiles, and Long March rockets, honored as the Two Bombs, One Satellite projects. Despite setbacks from the Cultural Revolution and Sino-Soviet split, China became the fifth country to independently launch a satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1 in 1970. China developed the Shenzhou crewed craft from Russia's Soyuz after a 1995 treaty; Shenzhou 5 carried the first Chinese astronaut in 2003. China commercially launched Western satellites from 1988, but failures, especially Intelsat 708, caused the US to embargo satellite export in 1998. After the US vetoed its joining the ISS, China began the Tiangong program, operating prototypes Tiangong-1 and -2 before the current Tiangong, the world's third modular space station. Since the 2020s, the program has been contrasted against Western space programs as the "New Space Race".
China's Moon missions achieved the world's first far side landing (Chang'e 4), far side sample return (Chang'e 6), and longest-lived rover (Yutu-2). China's interplanetary missions deployed Tianwen-1, a Mars orbiter, lander, and the rover Zhurong; Tianwen-2 visited an asteroid in 2026 and will visit a comet in 2035. Its satellite constellations include BeiDou Navigation, Gaofen Observation, and the Guowang and Qianfan internet constellations. Long March 5 is the most powerful rocket operating outside of the US, and first Long March to not use hypergolic propellant.
Since 2019, China's private and state enterprises have made over a hundred launches with new rocket designs, such as the Kuaizhou family and Ceres-1. China is developing reusable spacecraft, including the Long March 10 rocket family and a military spaceplane. China plans a crewed lunar landing by 2030, using the under-development Mengzhou craft, Lanyue lander, and Long March 10 rocket. After scouting with Chang'e 7 and 8, China aims to construct the International Lunar Research Station at the lunar south pole from 2031, collaborating with Roscosmos and 11 other countries; China previously cooperated with the European Space Agency on deep space tracking and space science. The Tianwen-3 robotic Mars sample-return is scheduled for dual launches in 2028, and the Tianwen-4 Jupiter orbiter and Uranus flyby in 2029; the Shensuo probes aim to flyby Neptune.
History
International cooperation
Belt and Road Initiative One of China's priorities in its Belt and Road Initiative is to improve satellite information pathways.
Bilateral space cooperation
China is an attractive partner for space cooperation for other developing countries because it launches their satellites at a reduced cost and often provides financing in the form of policy loans.
With respect to the African countries, the 2022-2024 action plan for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation commits China to using space technology to enhance cooperation with African countries and to create centers for Africa-China cooperation on satellite remote sensing application. African countries are increasingly cooperating with China on satellite launches and specialized training. As of 2022, China has launched two satellites for Ethiopia, two for Nigeria, one for Algeria, one for Sudan, and one for Egypt.
China and Namibia jointly operate the China Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Station which was established in 2001 in Swakopmund, Namibia. This station tracks Chinese satellites and space missions.
China and Brazil have successfully cooperated in the field of space. Among the most successful space cooperation projects were the development and launch of earth monitoring satellites. As of 2023, the two countries have jointly developed six China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellites. These projects have helped both Brazil and China develop their access to satellite imagery and promoted remote sending research. Brazil and China's cooperation is a unique example of South-South cooperation between two developing countries in the field of space.
With the European Space Agency
China has cooperated extensively with the European Space Agency. Double Star was a twin satellite mission the latter called "the first Sino-European satellite", that studied Earth's magnetosphere. ESA's ESTRACK, including the French Kourou Station and Spanish Maspalomas Station, was used to communicate with Chang'e 5 and Chang'e 6, the latter carried a French, an Italian, and a Swedish scientific instrument. ESA's Mars Express served as a backup communications satellite for the Zhurong Mars rover if the Tianwen-1 orbiter could transmit commands.
China and Russia initially hoped to attract ESA and its member nations to the International Lunar Research Station. In September 2021, Roscosmos and CNSA held private talks in Dubai with representatives of the French, German, Italian, and Dutch space efforts, as well as Malaysia, Thailand, and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. This effort was considered dead following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In January 2023, ESA stated it had ceased pursuing sending astronauts to the Tiangong space station. Between 2020 and 2026, all ESA members became party to the US Artemis Accords, seen as a competing international lunar exploration framework. ESA is not planned to participate in Chang'e 7, which will carry a Bahrain Space Agency-Egyptian Space Agency hyperspectral imager.
Dual-use technologies and outer space The PRC is a member of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and a signatory to all United Nations treaties and conventions on space, with the exception of the 1979 Moon Treaty. The United States government has long been resistant to the use of PRC launch services by American industry due to concerns over alleged civilian technology transfer that could have dual-use military applications to countries such as North Korea, Iran or Syria. Thus, financial retaliatory measures have been taken on many occasions against several Chinese space companies.
NASA's policy excluding Chinese state affiliates
The Cox Report, released in 1999, alleged that following decades of intelligence operations against U.S. weapons laboratories conducted by the Ministry of State Security, China stole design information regarding advanced thermonuclear weapons. In 2011, Congress passed a law prohibiting NASA researchers from working with Chinese citizens affiliated with a Chinese state enterprise or entity without FBI certification or using NASA funds to host Chinese visitors. In March 2013, the U.S. Congress passed legislation barring Chinese nationals from entering NASA facilities without a waiver from NASA.
The history of the U.S. exclusion policy can be traced back to the Cox Report's allegations that the technical information that American companies provided China for its commercial satellite ended up improving Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile technology. This was further aggravated in 2007 when China blew up a defunct meteorological satellite in low Earth orbit to test a ground-based anti-satellite (ASAT) missile. The debris created by the explosion contributed to the space junk that litter Earth's orbit, exposing other nations' space assets to the risk of accidental collision. The United States also fears the Chinese application of dual-use space technology for nefarious purposes.
The Chinese response to the exclusion policy involved its own space policy of opening up its space station to the outside world, welcoming scientists coming from all countries. American scientists have also boycotted NASA conferences due to its rejection of Chinese nationals in these events. In September 2025, NASA prohibited Chinese nationals from working with its programs.
Organization Initially, the space program of the PRC was organized under the People's Liberation Army, particularly the Second Artillery Corps (now the PLA Rocket Force, PLARF). In the 1990s, the PRC reorganized the space program as part of a general reorganization of the defense industry to make it resemble Western defense procurement.
The China National Space Administration, an agency within the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, is now responsible for launches. The Long March rocket is produced by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and satellites are produced by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The latter organizations are state-owned enterprises; however, it is the intent of the PRC government that they should not be actively state-managed and that they should behave as independent design bureaus.
Universities and institutes The space program also has close links with: College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology School of Astronautics, Beihang University School of Aerospace, Tsinghua University School of Astronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Zhejiang University Institute of Aerospace Science and Technology, Shanghai Jiaotong University College of Aeronautics, Harbin Institute of Technology School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University
Space cities Dongfeng Space City (), also known as Base 20 () or Dongfeng base () Beijing Space City () Wenchang Space City () Shanghai Space City () Yantai Space City () Guizhou Aerospace Industrial Park (), also known as Base 061 (), founded in 2002 after approval of Project 863 for industrialization of aerospace research centers ().
Suborbital launch sites Nanhui () First successful launch of a T-7M sounding rocket on February 19, 1960. Base 603 () Also known as Guangde Launch Site (). The first successful flight of a biological experimental sounding rocket transporting eight white mice was launched and recovered on July 19, 1964.
Satellite launch centers The PRC has 6 satellite launch centers/sites: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC) Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC) Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site (administered by Xichang SLC) Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site (administered by HICAL) Haiyang Oriental Aerospace Port (administered by Taiyuan SLC)
Monitoring and control centers Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center (BACCC) Xi'an Satellite Control Center (XSCC) also known as Base 26 () Fleet of six Yuanwang-class space tracking ships. Data relay satellite () Tianlian I (), specially developed to decrease the communication time between the Shenzhou 7 spaceship and the ground; it will also improve the amount of data that can be transferred. The current orbit coverage of 12 percent will thus be increased to a total of about 60 percent. Deep Space Tracking Network composed with radio antennas in Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming and Ürümqi, forming a 3000 km VLBI ().
Domestic tracking stations New integrated land-based space monitoring and control network stations, forming a large triangle with Kashi in the north-west of China, Jiamusi in the north-east and Sanya in the south.