For the last four years, Beijing's ambitions to develop its commercial space industry into a global force in the satellite launch market have remained firmly grounded.
In the Long March China has a proven and competitive launch platform. But its use in the international market has been excluded by export control rules by the United States that effectively prevent mainland satellites, or any other satellites containing US technology, being launched from China.
Recently, however, China has been trying to persuade the US to lift the ban. In particular, it has passed new regulations, published by the state media on August 25, restricting Chinese companies from exporting missile-related technology without official permission.
The Chinese hope these new laws will address American concerns - long denied by Beijing - that domestic companies regularly sell missile technology to unstable or rogue states such as Iran and Pakistan. Such sales were one of the main reasons for the imposition of the export control rules in 1999.
However, the prospects for a change in US export control regulations appear at best mixed, despite the fact that the rules are generally regarded as a failure, even in the US. For example, according to a report issued in April by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), US restrictions on satellite technology transfers have backfired and now do more damage to the US satellite industry than they do to foreign space programmes.
The CSIS accused the State Department, which oversees export controls, of imposing sweeping restrictions harmful to US national security by driving satellite manufacturing out of the US altogether.