GalaxySpace Completes New Funding Round to Accelerate China's Satellite Internet Development GalaxySpace has completed a new round of financing, accelerating the push to advance China's satellite internet construction. The company, a leading domestic player in the satellite internet sector, will use the fresh capital to ramp up its satellite production capabilities and expand its constellation deployment. The move comes as China races to build out its low-Earth orbit satellite infrastructure, positioning satellite internet as a critical piece of next-generation communications networks. The funding round underscores continued investor confidence in the commercial space sector despite a broader cooling in venture capital markets. GalaxySpace has now secured multiple rounds of financing since its founding, with backing from prominent institutional investors. China has identified satellite internet as a strategic priority, with state and private efforts converging to challenge the global dominance of SpaceX's Starlink. GalaxySpace is among a handful of domestic companies aiming to establish large-scale satellite constellations for broadband coverage.

Satellite internet leader GalaxySpace has completed its latest funding round at a post-money valuation of nearly RMB 8 billion ($1.1 billion), becoming China's first unicorn in the commercial aerospace and satellite internet sectors. The round was led by the Nantong Economic Development Zone Intelligent Manufacturing Industry Investment Fund, with participation from multiple new and existing investors. In 2018, Gaorong Ventures invested in GalaxySpace across two consecutive rounds.

On April 20 this year, China's National Development and Reform Commission included satellite internet in its "new infrastructure" initiative. Xu Ming, founder and CEO of GalaxySpace, said the company will use the fresh capital to accelerate R&D in satellite internet technology and rapidly build low-cost, mass-production capabilities for a new generation of internet satellites, supporting China's satellite internet construction.

GalaxySpace's first satellite in development

Satellite internet is emerging as a new engine for global economic growth. A Morgan Stanley report notes that building satellite constellations capable of delivering low-cost, high-speed internet is driving growth in the global space economy. By 2040, the global space economy is projected to reach $1 trillion in value, with satellite internet expected to account for 50% to 70% of that market growth. The sector has already entered a rapid deployment phase worldwide. U.S. commercial aerospace company SpaceX is accelerating deployment of its Starlink constellation, comprised of nearly 42,000 low-Earth orbit satellites. China's satellite internet buildout is also picking up speed. On January 16, 2020, GalaxySpace successfully launched its first satellite — not only China's first low-Earth orbit broadband communications satellite with 24Gbps capacity, but also the only broadband internet satellite currently in orbit developed by a Chinese private company. The company's self-developed second broadband communications satellite has now entered final assembly.

GalaxySpace's first satellite successfully launches; photo from the launch site

Xu Ming said GalaxySpace will next focus on building a next-generation satellite intelligent manufacturing mega-factory in Nantong, targeting annual production of 300–500 satellites. Once completed, this will be China's first commercial aerospace production line modeled on Starlink — capable of low-cost, mass production of next-generation low-Earth orbit broadband communications satellites — potentially narrowing the gap between China's next-generation satellite mass-production capabilities and the U.S. to within two years.

Simulation of GalaxySpace's first satellite in orbit

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