The blueprint for the 15th Five-Year Plan calls for accelerating the growth of strategic emerging industries, including aerospace. Shandong Province has set its sights on becoming a leading aerospace province, tackling development bottlenecks head-on. By fostering an industrial ecosystem characterized by offshore launch leadership, coordinated rocket and satellite manufacturing, and expanded space-based applications, the province is positioning itself as a premier hub for commercial space ventures.

Located in Yantai, the Oriental Aerospace Port stands as the nation's only commercial offshore launch homeport, operational since May 2020. During a recent visit, reporters learned that for a long period, insufficient coordination between rocket and satellite industries at the port frequently led to situations where "satellites awaited rockets" or vice versa, undermining launch efficiency and profitability.

Gao Zhongqian, Chairman of Oriental Aerospace Port (Shandong) Development Group Co., Ltd., explained the past challenges: "Previously, organizing a single launch mission took nearly a month from start to finish, resulting in long lead times and poor economic returns. Now, by integrating the entire industrial chain along a 6-kilometer Aerospace Avenue, we can complete everything from final rocket assembly to satellite-rocket integration in just one week."

Spanning R&D, manufacturing, launch operations, and satellite data applications, the Oriental Aerospace Port has attracted a diverse mix of enterprises, including central state-owned enterprises, local state-owned companies, and private firms. To address the critical bottlenecks and obstacles facing the commercial space industry this year, Shandong has established a provincial-level collaborative task force. This team is rolling out targeted support policies covering funding, talent, and supply chain needs based on specific industry requirements. Through a professional and market-driven approach, the province is forging interconnected industrial layouts to accelerate the formation of a robust offshore space industry cluster.

At the Oriental Aerospace Port, full operational capabilities are now in place for satellite manufacturing, rocket assembly, offshore launches, and data applications. The park hosts over 40 companies, which together have attracted a cumulative investment of 38.5 billion yuan. Recently, the Jielong-3 carrier rocket successfully launched the Dongfang Huiyan hyperspectral satellites 01 and 02, which feature high-performance AI inference and computing functions. This mission marked the first on-orbit verification of space computing technology in China and represented the port's first complete industrial closed-loop encompassing satellite, rocket, and vessel operations.

To further promote the high-quality development of the commercial space industry, Shandong has also been organizing regular industrial matchmaking conferences and events this year. To date, a series of agreements have been signed, covering areas such as satellite-rocket industry integration and financial support for commercial space development, with total contracted value reaching 63.5 billion yuan.

Looking ahead, by 2027, Shandong aims to achieve an annual production capacity of 100 launch vehicles and 150 commercial satellites, targeting a commercial space industry scale of 50 billion yuan. Wang Chao, Director of the Civil-Military Integration Division at the Shandong Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, stated, "During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we will strive for high-frequency, routine launches to accelerate satellite constellation deployment. We will also work to refine the province's commercial space industrial system, helping Shandong establish itself as a nationally influential hub for high-quality commercial space development."