From mining to tourism, space ambitions of China’s Guangdong rival those of Elon Musk

South China’s Guangdong province has announced its ambition to join the country’s race to expand its commercial space sector, promising financial and policy support for companies wanting to build low-orbit satellite constellation systems and promote their application in futuristic industries including space mining and space tourism.

Guangdong plans to use government procurement to support key innovative products and application scenarios for satellite constellation systems, which also include telecommunications and logistics, according to a commercial space policy statement released by provincial authorities on Tuesday.

“Companies will be supported in continuously scaling up the satellite application industry and in purchasing computing power services, while relevant local governments are encouraged to provide rewards in accordance with regulations,” it said.

As part of a three-year development plan, the province will also push companies to expand overseas in the fields of satellite navigation and remote sensing.

Guangdong has pledged to provide a fast track for approving satellite constellation projects, promising specially designated government funding to help with rocket and satellite development, as it tries to play catch-up with peers such as Beijing and Shanghai.

There was a one- to two-month gap between launch missions for the first five sets of satellites used to build Guowang, but that was reduced to just three to five days for the launch of the three most recent sets, according to a note issued earlier this month by analysts at China Securities.