After publicly criticizing SpaceX for crowding low-Earth orbit with Starlink, China has now submitted proposals to launch hundreds of thousands of satellites of its own. Recent filings to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) outline plans for as many as 203,000 internet satellites spread across 14 constellations, potentially deployed by the early 2030s if approved.
The most ambitious proposals come from the Institute of Radio Spectrum Utilization and Technological Innovation, which submitted plans for two separate constellations—each containing nearly 97,000 satellites. Other filings were submitted by state-backed China Satellite Network Group, major telecom firms China Mobile and China Telecom, and private operators such as GalaxySpace, Spacety, and Shanghai Yuanxin Satellite Technology.
If approved, the plans would represent a dramatic escalation in China’s space ambitions. Currently, about 10,800 satellites orbit Earth, with SpaceX accounting for roughly three-quarters of them, while China operates less than 10%. Approval of China’s proposals will depend on access to orbital slots and radio frequency bands, a process that can take years and faces growing international scrutiny.
Chinese officials and industry leaders frame the push as a coordinated national infrastructure effort rather than a purely commercial venture. However, experts caution that executing constellations of this scale poses enormous challenges across manufacturing, launch capacity, regulation, and space-debris management—especially as Earth’s orbit becomes increasingly congested.