Beijing-based startup Xingchen Daohe has secured roughly $14 million to develop its Guanlan space situational awareness constellation, adding fresh commercial capital to China’s rapidly expanding orbital tracking sector as space debris concerns mount across the industry.
China’s commercial space sector is accelerating past simple rocket manufacturing and into the high-stakes realm of orbital traffic management. Xingchen Daohe, also known as Stars Harmony, secured nearly 100 million yuan (approximately $14.8 million) on July 22 to fund the development, deployment, and team-building for its Guanlan constellation.
Founded in Beijing in May 2024, the startup signed to move into Beijing’s Satellite Town on July 24 under the official South Rockets, North Satellites
industrial policy. The funding round drew a mix of industry and financial backers, including the Beihang Tianhui incubator attached to Beihang University, venture investors Zhenghan Capital, QDGF Ventures, Yarong Capital, Yunhui Capital, and Xinhai Capital, alongside state-linked investment vehicle Changsha Chengfa.
A Crowded Orbital Tracking Market Takes Shape
Xingchen Daohe enters an increasingly busy commercial space situational awareness (SSA) market in China. The Guanlan constellation is designed to provide continuous space-based monitoring and tracking of orbital objects to support collision avoidance, orbit optimization, and space traffic management for both military and civil satellite operators.
Other domestic competitors are moving quickly. Geovis Insighter Technology Co. Ltd., also known as Xingtu Cekong, went public on the Beijing Stock Exchange in 2025 and announced a planned 156-satellite SSA constellation, with test satellites slated for the first half of 2026 and operational satellites in 2027. Another related firm, Kaiyun United, has developed the Spacemapper platform hosting China’s space object catalog while planning its own 108-satellite monitoring network.
Meanwhile, Qingbo Kongtian, a Tsinghua University spinout founded in August 2025, raised tens of millions of yuan in April 2026 for debris cataloging and collision-warning software. At the same time, Beijing-based Aotian Technology launched Gande-1 aboard a Kinetica-1 solid rocket, marking the debut of a planned 120-satellite debris-monitoring network.
High-Frequency Launches and the Growing Orbital Junkyard
The push for dedicated space debris tracking coincides with a dramatic increase in launch frequency. CAS Space successfully launched its Kinetica-1 Y15 carrier rocket carrying five satellites from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone, marking the 15th flight for the rocket family and initiating a schedule of regular monthly launches for the second half of the year.
The Kinetica-1 vehicle has served over 30 domestic and international clients and deployed more than 10 categories of satellite payloads, including low-cost commercial optical remote sensing, quantum communication, in-space manufacturing, and space situational awareness. Yang Kewei, an executive deputy director of the Commercial Space Research Center at the China Center for Information Industry Development, noted that this year could bear witness to a series of major milestones in the commercial space industry, including the start of commercial operations for low-Earth-orbit constellations.
The urgency behind these deployments is underlined by physical damage already sustained in orbit. Last year, China’s Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship experienced an extended stay at the Tiangong space station after its return capsule viewport window suffered an impact from orbital debris. In 2024, the Shenzhou-17 crew performed two spacewalks to repair solar wings on the core module damaged by similar debris. Estimates place the number of space debris pieces larger than one centimeter—big enough to threaten spacecraft—at over one million, traveling at speeds of approximately 7.9 kilometers per second.
Autonomous Technologies and National Policy Goals
To manage congested orbits, newly deployed hardware relies heavily on onboard automation. The Gande Constellation’s first satellite is equipped with an onboard artificial intelligence-aided computer enabling routine surveillance, emergency response, and rapid tracking missions without frequent ground intervention. According to developers, the satellite also features orbital transfer capability for close-range observation.
Fan Wei, chief engineer of the Gande Constellation, noted that the deployment fills a gap in commercial space-based debris monitoring capabilities and marks a key step in space traffic management.
The network is planned in three phases, with full deployment targeted before 2030. The first phase, designated LX630, consists of 14 satellites built jointly by Liangxi Aerospace Technology Group in Wuxi and ATmoto Technology.
These commercial efforts align with broader state planning. China’s 15th Five-Year Plan for 2026–2030 highlights space situational awareness alongside space-based computing and reusable launchers. Furthermore, a research article published in October 2025 by the U.S. Air Force’s China Aerospace Studies Institute noted a stated government goal to localize the two-line element data format used to track satellites by 2028, reducing dependence on U.S. data and positioning China to influence international norms.
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