Aeronautics, Space and Defence

October 2003

China's launch of a manned spacecraft will have limited implications for the global market for commercial satellite launching, although it indicates that China has developed a high level of rocket technology. The success of launching a manned spacecraft underscores the fact that China's technological prowess has advanced in a wide range of industrial areas, as it requires the application of a number of different technologies. China has apparently amassed sufficient technology for the manned launch, which demands that a rocket be 100% reliable. The country staked its national prestige on the success of the mission, which it had announced in advance. Few industry officials in Japan expect China to quickly gain a competitive edge in the commercial satellite launching business. An executive at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., which has taken over the H-IIA rocket project from the government, sees that the launch of a manned spacecraft and the launch of a satellite are different things. The rocket technology for one kind of launch can not be readily applied to the other type. According to data released by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, China has not launched a commercial satellite since 1999. There seems to be little demand for Chinese rockets at present partly because U.S. authorities are sensitive to the use of Chinese rockets in the wake of a suspected leak of scientific secrets related to a U.S. company's use of a Chinese rocket to launch a satellite in the 1990s. 　(October 15, ｔhe Nihon Keizai Shimbun)