Interview with Zhang Guangjun, Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology: Advancing Reusable Rocket Recovery Will Be the Key to Opening a New Era of Commercial Spaceflight

Everyday Economic News Reporter | Zhou Yifei Zhang Huishui | Edited by Liao Dan

“Science and Technology” has become a key word in China’s economic and social development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

This year’s government work report proposed accelerating high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and strength. Seizing the historical opportunity of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, comprehensively enhancing independent innovation capabilities to support high-quality development.

The “14th Five-Year” plan recommendations mention “science and technology” 46 times, explicitly proposing to “accelerate high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and strength,” and including “significantly improving the level of scientific and technological self-reliance and strength” among the main goals for economic and social development during the period. It places innovation at the core of national strategy.

Meanwhile, the Daily Economic News reporter noticed that after “commercial spaceflight” and “BeiDou” were successively included in the government work report, this year, “satellite internet” has become a key technological term in the report.

Why does the government work report emphasize these cutting-edge technologies this year? What is the current progress? When will China achieve reusable commercial rockets? As commercial space development advances, how far are ordinary people from space travel?

Focusing on these questions, the Daily Economic News reporter (hereinafter referred to as NBD) conducted an exclusive interview with Zhang Guangjun, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and former Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, during the National Two Sessions.

Enhancing Reusable Rockets Significantly Boosts Commercial Space Feasibility

NBD: The term “BeiDou” has been repeatedly mentioned in the government work report, especially in recent years. This year, the report states that by 2025, BeiDou’s large-scale application will be fully expanded, and for the first time, it proposes to “create a new form of intelligent economy” and explicitly “accelerate the development of satellite internet.” What signals do you think this releases?

Zhang Guangjun: Currently, China’s BeiDou satellite system has achieved phased success. The next focus should be on how to industrialize it. Not only domestically, but abroad, BeiDou is also being used and promoted as a business model. Once it reaches a certain scale and application base, generating benefits is essential.

People already feel the huge convenience brought by the BeiDou system in daily life, such as car navigation and other applications. The BeiDou system has formed a large-scale user community. Especially in the context of complex and changing international environments, China establishing an autonomous and controllable global navigation system is very significant. Only then can we avoid being “locked out.”

Of course, we see that the commercial application of BeiDou has already shown initial results and created many new markets. Not only domestically but also internationally, BeiDou is competing with the US GPS. Therefore, “BeiDou” and “satellite internet” have become hot words at the Two Sessions, aligning with our technological strategy and signaling strong national support and promotion.

NBD: Reusable rockets are regarded by the industry as a key to opening a new era in commercial spaceflight. In your view, what is the most strategic significance of this technology? When can we expect to achieve rocket reusability?

Zhang Guangjun: The most important aspect of reusability is cost reduction. Just like people wear clothes—they don’t throw them away after one use. Reusing rockets can greatly lower operational costs. Both domestically and internationally, relevant industries are advancing reusable rocket technology. Our country is also making progress, such as the recent first flight of the Zhuque-3, which was China’s first verification of a first-stage recovery technology for orbital launch vehicles. In the future, there will definitely be more experiments in this area. Developing reusable rockets will be crucial to ushering in a new era of commercial spaceflight.

Overall, reusability of rockets is highly significant for promoting commercial space development. First, it can substantially reduce the cost of space launches, making commercial operations more feasible.

Second, traditional expendable rockets have long manufacturing and launch preparation cycles, which cannot meet the increasing demand for space capacity. Reusable rockets, through rapid testing, maintenance, and re-launch, can greatly increase launch frequency and enable “flight-like” operations.

Finally, it will drive industry chain upgrades and create a healthy industrial ecosystem. Major national space projects have spurred broad participation from commercial companies, forming a positive ecosystem led by state teams and supported by commercial enterprises. This “military-civil fusion” development accelerates technological iteration and embeds space capabilities more deeply into the national industrial system.

Technology Breakthroughs and Institutional Reforms Drive Commercial Space Development

NBD: The industry generally believes that China’s commercial space strength is already among the top, but there is still a gap compared to the “leader.” How do you view this gap and our unique advantages?

Zhang Guangjun: Overall, China’s commercial space is in a rapid development stage, with notable achievements. “Commercial space” has also become a Two Sessions hot word. But we must recognize that China’s foundation in this field is relatively weak, with a low starting point compared to developed countries like the US. The next step is to develop our unique advantages, which I believe requires efforts in two areas.

First, at the technological level, we need to increase investment in manpower and funds, and focus on technological accumulation. In high-tech fields, researchers must be patient, persistent, and continuously push forward. Increasing R&D efforts and accumulating experience over time are necessary to catch up.

Second, reform and innovation in institutional mechanisms are also essential. Dual-driven approaches—advancing both technological innovation and system reform—are needed to achieve breakthroughs. In science and technology, a unified national strategy is crucial; technological innovation alone is not enough without institutional reforms.

For example, a few years ago, China established the Central Science and Technology Commission, which is strategically significant. It brought multiple ministries into one body, with the office under the Ministry of Science and Technology. This has made the promotion of major scientific projects and tasks more effective. In recent years, China’s technological breakthroughs have continued, and I believe that besides technological innovation, institutional reforms have played a vital role.

NBD: As space equipment increases, will “space traffic congestion” occur? Can commercial spaceflight enable us to realize space travel in the future?

Zhang Guangjun: As the aerospace field develops globally, “space traffic” congestion is indeed a concern. For example, recently, our spacecraft’s window was hit by debris, which verified this issue.

How to address it? I think one approach is to strengthen space monitoring and early warning, optimize orbital design and planning, and implement active collision avoidance maneuvers for satellites, enhancing their protective capabilities.

Regarding space travel, I believe it will definitely become a reality. However, currently, it remains limited to a very small segment of the population. Making space travel affordable for ordinary people and achieving large-scale commercial applications will be a long process.

At this stage, China is still in the phase of developing and utilizing space resources, such as exploring Mars and the Moon, mainly focusing on discovering and utilizing space resources. Transitioning to commercial space tourism involves related plans, but it still requires time.

However, I want to emphasize that from a national defense perspective, transferring civilian and commercial technologies to enhance military capabilities is worth considering. Developing a military-civilian integrated industrial technology system—where military tech can be adapted for civilian use and vice versa—can improve national security and defense. Especially in aerospace resource exploration, our commercial applications are rapidly developing. Achieving interoperability and practical transfer of military and civilian technologies will further strengthen national security and defense capabilities.