Lanzhou - China’s commercial space sector is expanding rapidly, creating new demand for rocket components and related supply chains. According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), commercial launches accounted for 54% of China’s total launches in 2025, with 50 missions sending 311 commercial satellites into orbit.
On August 26, a worker polishes a component of a propellant tank at Lanzhou Monisek Space Technology in Lanzhou New Area. (Photo/Huxin Luo)
On August 26, a media delegation visited Lanzhou Monolithic Space Technology in Lanzhou New Area, northwest China. The company does not build complete rockets. It makes a much smaller but critical component for propulsion systems: spacecraft propellant tanks.
General Manager Zhou Yang said a propellant tank does more than store propellant. Its internal propellant-management system must also deliver propellant steadily to the propulsion system under microgravity and changing acceleration.
The private firm has just over 70 employees, but has become an important supplier to China’s commercial rocket industry. Zhou said major Chinese commercial rocket companies use tank products developed and manufactured by the firm. The company has previously said its commercial rocket attitude-and-orbit-control propellant tanks hold a 100% share of this niche market.
The firm’s market position is supported first by its R&D and manufacturing capabilities. Zhou said the company has full-process capabilities, from design and manufacturing to testing, verification and delivery, for two types of propellant tanks.
One is used in rocket upper stages, which continue accelerating and placing payloads into orbit after first-stage separation. The other is used in attitude-control systems, which help rockets or spacecraft adjust their direction and orientation.
Cost is another key factor in the commercial space market. Zhou said the company estimates that using its aluminum-alloy tanks can save about 2 million to 3 million yuan (297.58 thousand- 446.36 thousand U.S. dollars) per rocket.
The company also sees the faster response and cost control offered by a private-sector structure as another competitive advantage. Zhou said fast and efficient delivery is a priority.
Compared with traditional aerospace suppliers in the market, private firms can be more flexible in organizational efficiency and cost control. That fits the needs of commercial space, where rocket companies must lower launch costs and shorten development and delivery cycles while maintaining reliability.
Industry growth is already showing up in orders and expansion plans. Gansu Daily reported that the firm’s new orders rose 70% year on year in the first quarter of 2026. Zhou said the company’s production and R&D workload continue to grow, while its existing production lines run continuously and a second-phase expansion is under construction.
Once both phases reach full capacity, the company expects to have enough annual propellant-tank capacity to support about 200 rocket launches.
Propellant tanks produced by Lanzhou Monolithic Space Technology. (Photo/Huxin Luo)
But expanding capacity does not mean aerospace components can simply be copied. Zhou said propellant tanks remain highly mission-specific. Different rockets and satellites require different sizes, pressures and propellant-management systems, so tanks still need to be customized during the development stage. Once a rocket model is finalized, however, its tanks can move into batch production.
This points to a broader challenge for China’s commercial space supply chain: how to move from customized, small-batch aerospace manufacturing toward greater standardization and batch production without compromising reliability.
In April 2026, CNSA and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly released the Commercial Space Standards System (Version 1.0). The system plans more than 1,000 standards covering areas including R&D and manufacturing, launch, and telemetry, tracking and command.
The document says China’s commercial space sector has entered a period of accelerated development, with companies now covering the full industrial chain and the shares of commercial launches and in-orbit satellites rising year by year. It also calls for coordinated efforts to advance standardization across the sector.