China Establishes National VLEO Industry Alliance as Satellites Prove Sustained Low-Orbit Operations
Featured image: [Artist’s concept of a satellite operating in very low Earth orbit with atmospheric glow visible; credit: CASIC / China Space News]
China has formalized its push into very low Earth orbit with the establishment of a national industry alliance, bringing together 34 universities, research institutes, and commercial space companies as the country demonstrates sustained satellite operations at altitudes well below traditional orbital regimes.
The National VLEO Technology Innovation and Industry Development Alliance was launched in Shenzhen on June 27 with six academicians and over 250 industry experts in attendance, according to Chinese state media. The alliance marks a shift from isolated experimental missions to a coordinated national program targeting the unique strategic and commercial advantages of orbits below 300 kilometers (186 miles).
The VLEO advantage
Very low Earth orbit, or VLEO, refers to altitudes roughly between 150 and 300 kilometers. At these heights, satellites are significantly closer to the ground than the International Space Station, which orbits at approximately 400 kilometers. The reduced distance delivers sharper optical and radar imagery, lower signal latency, and reduced power requirements for communications.
These advantages come with a steep engineering challenge: atmospheric drag. At 270 kilometers, the density of residual atmosphere is roughly ten times greater than at the ISS altitude. Without continuous propulsion, satellites in VLEO de-orbit within months. The challenge has historically limited the viability of sustained low-orbit operations.
China has now demonstrated that such operations are possible. The Shiyan-25 satellite, launched in June 2023 and developed by a subsidiary of the China Academy of Space Technology, has been consistently maintaining its 270-kilometer altitude since September 2023, over 20 months of sustained operation. The Qiankun-1 satellite, built by commercial firm C-Space and launched in July 2023, has been progressively lowering its orbit for a research mission aimed at determining just how low a satellite can go, using a wide-range Hall electric thruster developed by Chinese startup Yidong Space.
Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who tracks Chinese satellite activity, noted that Shiyan-25’s prolonged endurance strongly suggests it is testing a specific operational profile for a future system, and that Qiankun-1’s gradual descent represents a deliberate research campaign into VLEO limits.
Propulsion breakthroughs
Sustaining VLEO operations requires propulsion systems that can compensate for drag over years rather than months. China’s recent developments include both conventional electric thrusters and a new class of air-breathing plasma engines.
Shanhai Xingyao, a startup based in Chengdu founded in August 2025, has developed what it describes as China’s first air-breathing helicon plasma engine for VLEO. The system ingests residual atmospheric gas as propellant, eliminating the need for onboard propellant that would otherwise limit mission lifetime. The company closed a seed funding round in May 2026 led by the Jinjiang Talent Fund, having successfully demonstrated prototype ignition in a simulated VLEO environment.
Researchers at Fudan University in Shanghai announced a similar air-breathing plasma propulsion concept in March 2026, designed to capture nitrogen and oxygen from the thin upper atmosphere as propellant, with plans for a demonstration satellite constellation.
A coordinated national push
The new alliance formalizes what has been a rapidly expanding field of Chinese space activity. The CASIC Chutian constellation, announced in July 2023, plans 192 VLEO satellites by 2027 and 300 by 2030, operating at altitudes between 150 and 300 kilometers. The satellites use a bullet-shaped design to minimize drag and carry visible light, synthetic aperture radar, hyperspectral, and infrared imaging payloads, with a targeted response time as short as 15 minutes.
Zhang Nan, chief designer of the CASIC constellation, described the strategic vision in state media. “The VLEO communications and sensing integrated constellation, taking the natural advantages of shorter distance, low latency and low path loss, forges a constellation and application system that is small but excellent, fast and intelligent,” he said. “It is space infrastructure that can offer users one-stop services covering sensing, transmission and computing.”
The Haishao-1 satellite, an 80-kilogram X-band synthetic aperture radar satellite launched in December 2024 and developed by the Aerospace Information Research Institute and commercial spinout AIRSAT, demonstrates the imaging potential. Weighing in at under 80 kilograms with sub-meter resolution in stripmap mode, it targets tropical and equatorial regions underserved by polar-orbiting SAR satellites.
Global competition heats up
China is not alone in pursuing VLEO. U.S. startup Albedo launched its Clarity-1 VLEO imaging satellite in March 2025 with a second mission planned for 2027. The UK’s NewOrbit raised 18.5 million pounds in Series A funding. Redwire’s Otter VLEO mission, under a DARPA contract, uses the SabreSat platform. Japan’s Bellatrix and TelePIX are planning an air-breathing VLEO imaging demonstration by 2028.
Juniper Research projects global VLEO investment will reach 220 billion dollars by 2027, a 1,100 percent increase over three years, with operational VLEO satellites expected to exceed 620 by 2030.
Tomas Hrozensky of the European Space Policy Institute noted that China’s approach is distinct in its breadth. “The scale of the Chinese space program and related political support favors and underpins a comprehensive capability development across a wide array of concepts,” he said. “This can reasonably have a positive impact on innovation, even if multiple such avenues do not reach a successful end.”
With demonstrated in-orbit endurance, emerging propulsion technology, and now a formal national alliance, China’s VLEO activity has moved from experimental missions to a systematic program with both commercial and dual-use implications.