Space is crucial for national strength, global influence, and future industrial development. During the Cold War, space primarily symbolized technological skill and ideological status. Today, it serves as infrastructure, impacting everything from communication and financial transactions to military deterrence, planetary exploration, and resource management and utilization.
China’s space program exemplifies this shift. Today, Beijing is building an integrated space infrastructure, including reusable launch vehicles, orbital refueling and logistics, satellite mass production, and lunar industrialization. These interconnected capabilities aim to establish a strategic presence in Earth orbit, cislunar space, and on the Moon.
Why should the world care? Because space is becoming the “strategic high ground” of the 21st century. Whoever controls it will influence global communications, access to resources, scientific progress, planetary defense, and military security. China’s pursuit of this integrated approach prompts us to consider its effects on civil, commercial, and military power projection worldwide.
For instance, on September 6, 2025, Chinese scientists revealed details about what they term a “near Earth asteroid defense system” at the International Deep Space Exploration Conference, held at Hefei. This concept encompasses monitoring and early warning, as well as deflection. As part of this, China launched the Tiawen-2 probe, whose mission was to return samples from asteroid 2016HO3. Wu Weiren, chief designer of China’s lunar program, stated that “from the perspective of safeguarding Earth’s security and ensuring the continuity of human civilization, building asteroid defense capabilities is a shared mission for all humanity.”
China’s Deep Space Exploration Lab highlighted in that same conference that China would focus on space resource utilization, to include a deep space economy, energy, internet, biology, transportation, tourism, security, and cultural factors.
Chinese space power is evolving in three areas, and it’s a rapid shift, especially concerning its impact on policy, doctrine, and strategy. These areas include reusable rockets; logistics, refueling, and in-orbit manufacturing; and ultimately, a base on the Moon.
Reusable Rockets: Shaping Access to Space
China’s move into reusable rockets has notched major advancements. In May 2025, China tested Yuanxingzhe-1, launched from a sea platform in the Yellow Sea, as a key demonstration of vertical take-off and landing. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is developing two reusable vehicles: a four-meter rocket expected in 2025 and a five-meter vehicle targeted for 2026. According to the Global Times, in August 2023 CASC already successfully tested the “vertical-take-off-vertical-hovering technology” that is critical for reusable rockets.
CASC has also tested the YF-102V reusable engine, a liquid-oxygen-kerosene high altitude engine, capable of multiple restarts and precise bidirectional gimbaling. Mass production of these engines is underway, with a Shaanxi plant set to produce 300 engines annually by this year’s end.
Details of a fully reusable heavy-lift launcher were unveiled at the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, indicating China’s ambitions to rival SpaceX’s Starship. As per the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), “modules developed in the first phase will include a general-use first stage, a non-reusable second stage, and a hydrogen-oxygen-powered third stage. These modules will be used to construct the basic type of 10-meter-diameter heavy-lift rocket, with a low Earth orbit payload capacity of at least 100 tonnes and a lunar transfer orbit payload capacity of at least 50 tonnes.”
In the second phase, CALT aims to build a two-stage, fully reusable model. The two-stage model will concentrate on near-Earth missions, supporting satellite networks and infrastructure development. An eventual three-stage heavy rocket model, which enables higher speeds and orbital altitudes, will be utilized for deep-space missions, such as those to Mars or asteroids.
Given China’s focus on space resource utilization, reusable rockets hold the key to the development and projection of economic space power.
Logistics, Refueling, and In-Orbit Manufacturing
Beyond launches, China is building infrastructure for a sustained space presence. In 2025, Chinese satellites Shijian-21 and Shijian-25 conducted the first-ever geosynchronous orbit refueling, involving fuel equivalent to six years of station-keeping. According to the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, which built the Shijian-25, the experiment was aimed toward “verification of satellite fuel replenishment and life extension service technologies.”
Geespace, a subsidiary of Geely, one of China’s leading car manufacturers, is now building LEO satellites in just 28 days, at its satellite factory in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, in eastern China. As per Liu Yong, deputy general manager of Geespace, “we can produce up to 500 satellites a year.” Such fast-tracked satellite manufacturing capabilities, combined with orbital refueling and docking, will enable China to deploy and maintain satellite constellations rapidly and at scale.
The strategic significance of all these elements is immense: in-orbit servicing enhances in-space resilience, while rapid manufacturing allows for quick expansion of space capacity. Together, they point to a future where China develops a self-sustaining orbital logistics system, also known as Dynamic Space Operations, which involves continuous and sustained maneuvering and refueling. This capability is essential for military missions, space resource utilization, and planetary defense.
Lunar Base and Industrialization
China’s space plans aim for a permanent lunar base by 2035, developed through the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) partnership. The base will include a nuclear reactor to power long-term lunar operations, supplementing solar arrays and surface infrastructure.
China’s Chang’e rover program is central to this vision of space resource utilization. In 2024, the Chang’e 6 returned far-side lunar samples for the first time in human history. Chang’e 7 (2026) will explore the lunar South Pole for water ice, while Chang’e 8 (2028) will test in-situ resource utilization, including 3D printing bricks from lunar regolith.
China also aims to influence the space reform sector through institutions like the International Deep Space Exploration Association (IDSEA), founded in July 2025 in Hefei. Both the IDSEA and the ILRS specifically target developing nations, which signals China’s intent to establish norms and attract partners for lunar development.
Moving from exploration to industrialization is a crucial step in China’s space policy. Energy, building materials, and water ice propellant on the Moon could turn it into a staging ground for deep-space missions. Whoever controls lunar resources will wield new economic and strategic influence.
Civil, Military, and Commercial Impact
China’s integrated space program is shifting the balance of power across civil, commercial, and military sectors. Civilian missions such as Chang’e 6, 7, and 8 boost China’s global standing and produce important planetary data. In the commercial realm, reusable launchers, mass production, and logistics are helping China develop a trillion-yuan space economy that can compete with Western companies worldwide.
Militarily, in-orbit refueling of geostationary satellites combined with rapid, reusable launch vehicles strengthens resilience and deterrence. Military planners in the United States now face a China capable of sustained space operations beyond Earth.
According to an essay I wrote in 2024, the cislunar domain is emerging as the strategic high ground for military space power. China’s advancements are part of a systematic effort to dominate this space. China’s space strategy is comprehensive, deliberate, and strategic. It focuses on building not only rockets and satellites but also a durable infrastructure for long-term power projection.
Space has shifted from an open, neutral zone to an arena where scientific research, commercial ventures, and military security converge. Through innovations in reusability, orbital logistics, and lunar industrialization, China aspires to become a leading space power and possibly establish the standards for future space governance. The key takeaway is that whoever controls space will influence Earth in the 21st century. China’s move to gain strategic dominance extends beyond exploration; it aims to shape the global power structure of tomorrow.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official guidance or position of the United States Government, the Department of Defense, the United States Air Force, or the United States Space Force.