iSpace engineers prepare the company's first orbital carrier rocket. Photo: Courtesy of iSpace

Compared with traffic-dependent industries like catering, aviation and tourism, China's fledging commercial space sector has not been severely disrupted by the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) which has claimed over 3,000 lives nationwide and continues to spread globally. However, the epidemic's impact on Wuhan is still very obvious, industry insiders told the Global Times.

"The Kuaizhou rocket team under the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) as well as its relevant suppliers have forged a major force in Wuhan [in Central China's Hubei Province]," said an industry investment manager who asked to remain anonymous.

Kuaizhou-1A solid-propellant rockets developed by Expace Technology, subordinate to the CASIC, will mainly be used to launch low-orbit microsatellites.

A Kuaizhou-1A carrier rocket lifted the Galaxy-Space 1, China's first 5G-capable satellite built by a private Chinese company, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on January 16.

The company completed its first mission, launching eight to nine rockets, at the beginning of the year. For the first half of 2020, the company was scheduled to conduct four or five launches, a representative told the Global Times in December.

Given the ongoing epidemic, it seems unlikely the Wuhan-based firm will meet its target as the city has been under lockdown for over 40 days, an Expace source told the Global Times on the condition of anonymity.

"As far as I know, the epidemic has pressed a halt button for its rocket production. Even though the manufacturing of the product is finished, it cannot be transported under the lockdown, which means original production and launch plans have to be adjusted," the source said.

"If Expace and its relevant suppliers cannot recover soon, Wuhan's commercial space sector will take a further blow," he added. 

It is acknowledged that the Kuaizhou rockets and the related industrial layout have played a significant role in supporting Wuhan's commercial space development, as the city has been ramping up efforts to develop its commercial space industry in recent years.

The city started building China's first commercial space industry base - the Wuhan National Space Industry Base - in 2016, which is focused on the development of carrier rockets and satellites, commercial launch services, and applications of satellite data.

Construction of the first-phase facility of the base's rocket industrial park is complete and it was originally scheduled to begin operations in December 2019. A separate satellite park was previously under full-speed construction and was scheduled to begin operations this year, local newspaper Chutian Metro Daily reported in November.

A spokesperson of Chinese industrial park developer China Fortune Land Development Co, which is in charge of the space industry base project, told the Global Times that the project has not been restarted due to the epidemic and there is not yet a specific plan for its resumption.

Since the Spring Festival holidays, no commercial launch has been completed in China.

Waiting to take off

Commercial space firms outside of Hubei have not been severely affected by the epidemic.

Yao Bowen, vice president of private rocket firm iSpace, told the Global Times that the company's Beijing headquarters had resumed work at full capacity under strict measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Its research and development (R&D) branch in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, has realized a 90 percent work resumption rate.

"The epidemic period, with strict precaution measures, has caused our daily work to become less efficient and convenient, but it has limited the impact on our business and rocket development," said Yao.

"We met some component supply difficulties last month as our supplier is located in Hubei, but it did not cause too much trouble as we have diversified sources and we replaced it quickly," he noted.

The carrier rocket built by iSpace and dubbed China's answer to SpaceX successfully sent satellites into orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province in July 2019, a milestone for China's commercial space industry. iSpace was the first private-sector space firm to do so, after two earlier failures from leading rocket start-ups OneSpace and LandSpace.

"The epidemic won't affect our launch plan set for June in Jiuquan," Yao said, noting that it will launch one rocket carrying six to seven satellites, and cooperate with a renowned artist who will adorn the surface of the rocket with his handwriting.

A LandSpace representative told the Global Times that its 2020 rocket launch timetable had not yet been confirmed, but that the epidemic has not directly impacted the firm's business.

The Beijing-based company said its production facility in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province had resumed work, while its Beijing headquarters do not have a high on-site rate.

Unlike many other industries, rocket firms and their clients, satellite firms, practice strong planning. 

Their supply chain is therefore not easily disrupted during an epidemic, according to the industry investment manager.

"For instance, satellite firms and their clients which have high communication, navigation, and remote sensing market demand usually plan their launch times one or two years in advance, and that demand won't be greatly impacted in the short term by the coronavirus," he added.

Huang Zhicheng, a space industry expert, told the Global Times, "We should also look at the other side of the coin. There will be opportunities ahead when the epidemic subsides."

Huang is betting that the commercial space industry, which is still in its early phase, will continue to grow and race forward in the global market.

With over 100 private firms, China's commercial space market is set to hit 800 billion yuan ($125.8 billion) in 2020, compared to the $485 billion that it is estimated the global space market could reach this year, according to earlier industry forecasts.  

As China is now eyeing new infrastructure projects such as 5G networks and data centers to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus and boost sustainable growth, the commercial sector might benefit indirectly, said Huang.

"Opportunities for the young sector will be plentiful, with more private capital instead of government-led stimulus," he added.

Private Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely said recently that it was investing 2.27 billion yuan in a new satellite manufacturing plant, where it plans to build low-orbit satellites to provide more accurate data for self-driving cars.

Shunwei Capital, a venture capital firm established by Lei Jun, CEO and chairman of China's technology giant Xiaomi, has invested in four private commercial space sector start-ups including iSpace and commercial microsatellite developer Galaxy Space.