HELSINKI — China has established a national very low Earth orbit industry alliance, as multiple satellites demonstrate sustained operations below 300 kilometers and propulsion startups attract investment.
China established a national VLEO Technology Innovation and Industry Development Alliance on June 27, co-founded by 34 organisations including leading universities, research institutes and commercial space companies, at a conference in Shenzhen attended by six academicians and more than 250 industry experts, Chinese media Economic Daily reports.
The development follows progress in orbit and within the ecosystem. Orbital data reveal that China currently has two experimental satellites operating in orbits below 300 kilometers, demonstrating the ability to maintain these low orbital altitudes despite considerable drag, while funding activity indicates a demand and backing for related technologies.
Very low Earth orbit (VLEO), sometimes defined as orbits below 300 kilometers in altitude, has become an area of interest in recent years, with China engaged in this area, along with other major space actors. VLEO offers potential significant advantages for Earth observation and communications, such as higher resolution imagery, lower signal latency and reduced power requirements over operating in higher orbits. This reduces costs and means swift reentry post-mission. The challenge, however, is to overcome much greater atmospheric drag which swiftly pulls satellites back into the atmosphere without active compensation, placing extreme demands on propulsion systems.
