China News Service, Beijing, Title: Galaxy Aerospace's "star-making" has been 8 years and China's commercial aerospace industry is accelerating overseas

Reporter Ma Shuaisha

Recently, Galaxy Aerospace (Beijing) Technology Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Galaxy Aerospace") and Turkish satellite communications solution provider Profen signed a memorandum of intent for cooperation. China's commercial aerospace industry has taken a step further.

In May 2024, in a nursing home in a remote area of ​​Rayong Province, Thailand, a Thai woman in her 70s completed a remote consultation with experts from Bangkok Hospital through a screen for the first time.

The network signal in this area has always been poor, making it difficult to maintain stable video calls. This time, the signal connecting her to the experts came from the "Little Spider Web" satellite test constellation independently developed by Galaxy Aerospace. This is also the first satellite Internet application launched overseas by Galaxy Aerospace.

In 2018, Galaxy Aerospace was officially established. A group of young people with dual backgrounds in the Internet and aerospace crowded into a small office in Beijing and started their "star-making" journey. It took them 8 years to turn the distant dream of "space WiFi" into a reality within reach.

From the first star to the “little spider web”

In January 2020, Galaxy Space’s first star was successfully launched.

In the early days of starting a business, the team was short of funds and limited space. Several staff members crowded into a small laboratory to overcome all technical aspects one by one. The success of the first satellite not only confirms that private enterprises have satellite R&D and manufacturing capabilities, but also lays the foundation for enterprises to gain a foothold in the industry.

This is just the beginning of their technological breakthroughs. Traditional rigid satellite solar wings are heavy and have a large folded volume, making it difficult to meet the needs of mass launches of low-orbit satellites. In this regard, the team did not choose a mature solution on the market, but instead tackled a flexible solar wing that was rarely involved in the industry.

After a series of innovative research and development, the Galaxy Aerospace Energy team successfully developed its own flexible solar wing. This solar wing has an approximately 9-meter-long "wing" after unfolding, and a single-layer flexible solar panel is only 1 mm thick. It can provide more energy under the same weight, and supports stacking and storage of satellites. One rocket can carry multiple satellites into space. In 2023, the Lingxi 03 star equipped with this solar wing was successfully launched, and Galaxy Aerospace became the first commercial company in China to complete the on-orbit verification of this technology.

Relying on self-developed satellites, Galaxy Aerospace has built a low-orbit broadband communication test constellation "Little Spider Web". At present, the test constellation has completed low-orbit application demonstrations in multiple scenarios such as air, ground, and sea, and has completed application verification in multiple vertical fields such as ecology, industry, 5G private networks, and railways.

Bringing China’s space WiFi to the world

According to a report released by the ITU in November 2025, there are still about 2.2 billion people in the world who are not connected to the Internet. Satellite Internet naturally has the advantage of global coverage and is an important means to bridge the "digital divide".

In 2023, Galaxy Aerospace will choose Thailand as the first stop for its overseas layout. During the investigation, the team found that the network foundation in remote areas of Thailand is weak, and it is very inconvenient for the elderly in mountainous nursing homes to seek medical consultation. Therefore, they abandoned the preaching of technical parameters and customized exclusive solutions: relying on satellite Internet to build telemedicine testing solutions for remote areas in Thailand. The old man described his illness to the doctor on the screen. The stable satellite signal ensured the smooth completion of the consultation throughout the entire process, and the intuitive application effect was recognized.

Galaxy Aerospace said that after Thailand, the next step is to expand satellite Internet solutions to the Middle East and Africa to fill the local digital divide.

Today, Galaxy Aerospace is still working on cutting-edge technology - direct connection of mobile phones to satellites. The company has launched a number of test satellites, focusing on core technologies such as phased array antennas and on-board large energy sources. In the future, ordinary mobile phones can directly connect to satellite signals without the need for dedicated terminals.

Kang Guohua, a professor at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, believes that commercial aerospace companies represented by Galaxy Aerospace continue to accelerate technological innovation and product delivery, helping my country accelerate its entry into the 6G era of "ubiquitous interconnection of air, sky, earth and sea".

After eight years of hard work, starting from a sketch, they weaved a communication network covering the starry sky. This group of cross-border entrepreneurs has gradually brought the once out-of-reach aerospace technology into the lives of ordinary people. Today, this network continues to extend outwards, helping China's commercial aerospace to go global.