In a jaw-dropping move, the Chinese mainland submitted filings for over 200,000 satellites in the final week of December 2025, according to new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) records. 😲
These plans are driven by two mega-constellations: CTC-1 and CTC-2, each requesting 96,714 satellites – a record in ITU history! Combined, that's more than 190,000 satellites aiming to orbit at altitudes between 200 and 2,000 kilometers, known as low-Earth orbit (LEO). Think high-speed, low-latency internet from space! 🌐✨
Both constellations were filed by the Institute of Radio Spectrum Utilization and Technological Innovation, a national research institute newly registered in Hebei Province in December 2025. But they're not alone: other companies from the Chinese mainland are in the race too, with filings ranging from single-digit networks to thousands of satellites.
For context, as of August 2024, the Chinese mainland had already filed for over 51,300 satellites, making this latest spike even more dramatic.
Why the rush? Orbital slots and radio spectrum are limited. Under ITU rules, operating agencies must bring their satellites into use within specified time frames or risk losing their spectrum and orbital rights. Early birds get the orbits! 🚀
This race isn't one-sided. On January 9, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved SpaceX's plan to deploy an extra 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites, bringing its Gen2 total to about 15,000, with a long-term vision of around 42,000 satellites.
As space gets more crowded, international coordination and collision avoidance become critical. Will our night sky soon be crisscrossed by mega-constellations? The next few years will show whose networks shine brightest. Stay tuned! 👀✨
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
