China is looking to increase its share of the global commercial satellite launching business, targeting a 15 per cent share by 2020.
China has just 3 per cent of the market now, but the goal laid out on Saturday by a leading space programme official points to its ambitions to be a major player in space.
The deputy head of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, Liang Xiaohong, told the official Xinhua News Agency that China hopes to accomplish that by establishing strategic alliances with major launch services providers and satellite manufacturers, along with developing its own technology.
China’s main competition in the launch market comes from Europe and the US
Liang said China’s first solid-fuel rocket that could be launched on short notice would make its first flight by 2016.