China… Flexing SatMuscles (Satellites)

[SatNews] Bracing up to launch a host of new satellites, including a communication satellite for Pakistan next year, China has said it aims to become a major global player in the international aerospace industry by 2015 to get a big chunk of the commercial satellite market.

China is set to re-launch itself on the global aerospace industry with plans to take 10 per cent share of the world’s commercial satellite and 15 per cent of the commercial launch business by 2015, Yin Liming, President of China Great Wall Industry Corp, (CGWIC) told state run China Daily. Unveiling the specific target plans for the first time, he said China will conduct three commercial launches next year, including a communications satellite produced by France-based Thales Alenia Space for Eutelsat Communications.

“The other two launches, also communications satellites and both made in China, will be the PakSat-1R for Pakistan, and the NigComSat-1R for Nigeria, to replace a defunct Nigerian satellite launched in 2007”, the Daily report said. The PakSat-1R made in China was expected to be launched next year. Pakistan Ambassador to China, Masood Khan, who addressed the CGWIC, said the “joint space communication satellite” will be launched next year. This will be a second satellite for Pakistan which currently has leased satellite called Paksat-1. Khan also expressed hope that a Pakistan astronaut would travel to space in a Chinese spacecraft.

Yin said his company plans to “invest hundreds of millions of yuan in the next few years to launch a batch of communications satellites and launch vehicles”, to guarantee service”, he said. “This new business model will help sharpen our competitive edge in the global launch market. We aim to become a major player,” he said. China entered the commercial launch market in the 1990s, and once enjoyed a nine per cent share of global business. However, it suffered a major setback in 1996, when the launch of the Intelsat 708 satellite failed. In 1999, the US banned the export of satellites to China containing components covered under the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Due to the trade barrier, China was stripped of opportunities and did not conduct any commercial launches between July 1999 and March 2005. (Source: The Economic Times).