China

Chang'e-7, China's orbiter, lander, rover and hopper bound for the rim of Shackleton crater at the lunar south pole, was due to launch on a Long March 5 from Wenchang around Aug. 24, 2026. Chinese officials said the mission cannot fly within this year's launch window, with Tropical Storm Narra cited as the cause. No new date has been set; reports suggest it could slip to 2027.

Chang'e-7, China's orbiter, lander, rover and hopper bound for the rim of Shackleton crater at the lunar south pole, was due to launch on a Long March 5 from Wenchang around Aug. 24, 2026. Chinese officials said the mission cannot fly within this year's launch window, with Tropical Storm Narra cited as the cause. No new date has been set; reports suggest it could slip to 2027.

GalaxySpace filed for IPO tutoring with the China Securities Regulatory Commission on March 31, 2026, with Huatai United Securities as adviser — the formal pre-listing step for a domestic A-share offering. The filing joins a wave of Chinese commercial space IPO ambitions: LandSpace's STAR Market application was accepted December 2025 (seeking 7.5B yuan), Spacety began tutoring in February 2026, MinoSpace filed guidance in September 2025, and CAS Space entered tutoring in January 2026. GalaxySpace recently completed a Series C and has launched 40+ satellites for its Galaxy broadband constellation.

LandSpace presented its 2026 roadmap at the UN COPUOS Scientific and Technical Subcommittee in February 2026, confirming a second ZhuQue-3 orbital flight and first-stage recovery attempt targeting Q2 2026, with an identical vehicle configuration to the December debut plus software and control refinements. If the Q2 recovery succeeds, the retrieved stage will be refurbished and used in a reuse demonstration flight in Q4 2026. The company plans to manufacture 10 rockets and 100 engines in 2026 and has secured Guowang megaconstellation launch contracts and had its STAR IPO application accepted in December 2025, seeking 7.5 billion yuan (~$1 billion).

On February 11, 2026, China successfully conducted a combined maximum dynamic pressure abort test of the Mengzhou crewed spacecraft and the first powered flight of the Long March 10A rocket from Wenchang Space Launch Site, Hainan. The Mengzhou capsule abort system executed clean separation from the LM-10 first stage at ~11km altitude at maximum dynamic pressure. Four historic firsts: first ignition of LM-10 in prototype configuration; first maximum dynamic pressure abort test of a Chinese crewed spacecraft; first maritime splashdown of both a Chinese crewed capsule and rocket first stage; first use of the new Wenchang lunar mission launch pad. The LM-10 first stage recovered at sea after a controlled splashdown — demonstrating first-stage reuse capabilities. Recovery crews retrieved the capsule 80 minutes after liftoff.

Chinese commercial space companies raised ¥26.6 billion (~$3.81 billion) in 2025 across 137 funding rounds — a record for the sector and nearly double the annual average of 74 rounds from 2020-2024. Satellite manufacturers led for the first time with over ¥10 billion raised, driven by MinoSpace, Spacety, and emerging specialized manufacturers. Launch companies raised ¥8.5 billion. Sub-national government funding reached a new high at ~60% of total capital. Commercial launches made up 54% of all Chinese launches in 2025, with 311 commercial satellites reaching orbit (84% of the national total).

LandSpace launched the inaugural flight of its ZhuQue-3 reusable methalox rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on December 3, 2025. The second stage successfully reached a planned 200 x 200 km orbit inclined at 55 degrees — a significant milestone for Chinese commercial launch. However, the first-stage landing attempt approximately 390 km downrange in Wuwei County, Gansu, failed after an anomalous combustion event during the final landing burn. LandSpace confirmed that key phases of the recovery sequence — high-altitude gliding, grid fin deployment, attitude adjustment, and reentry burn — performed as designed, providing valuable data for the next attempt.