With the launch of Shenzhou-7, China has achieved a spacewalk using Chinese-made equipment. This shows that China's technology and industry chains have extended to the world's upper end of science and technology. China has not only fulfilled the necessary conditions to earn its self a place in the high-tech market, it will earn more right to speak in a wider range of markets.

 

 

So far, China has conducted 20 space flight experiments, carrying over 300 crop varieties on recoverable satellites and on the Shenzhou spacecraft. These crops, which have traveled in space, saw their market prices multiply. Retail prices of space vegetables are around 20 percent higher than regular vegetables, and the prices of space flowers are between 30 and 300 percent higher than normal flowers. Considerable profits are involved with these items.

 

As early as 1987, China's first batch of "space seeds" was sent into outer space on its ninth recoverable satellite. At that time, while the whole nation was focusing on the "shopping basket" and "rice bag" projects, Jiang Xingcun, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposed the idea of conducting breeding experiments using outer space methods. The results were unexpected. After the seeds that were brought to outer space were cultivated on the ground, rice grains were plump and green peppers were noticeably larger.

 

Since then, the nation has attached importance to "space breeding” research. Pumpkins larger than 1 meter in diameter, squashes as tall as people, and sesame seeds grown on benne plants that have eight times the amount of branches than they did before are now no longer regarded as uncommon. In addition, paddy rice can have tall seedlings and ears and feature a resistance to rice lodging, while tomatoes and chili peppers can contain multiple times more vitamin C, carotene and lycopene without their appearances changing.

 

"After being brought to outer space on a satellite, plant seeds may change into new species with remarkable advantages. In a space environment they undergo space mutagenesis, and are bred and screened for several years after returning to the ground." Liu Luxiang, Director of the Center for Space Breeding under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Institute of Crop Science said, "This is a new world for plant breeding."

 

In fact, from a tiny crop seed carried on a space shuttle and a small static-free ground tile adhered to a satellite launch center, to the new materials for the cabins of a manned spaceship and the 160-million-yuan spacesuit worn by the taikonauts, the industry chain of space economy involves a wide variety of fields. One aerospace mission can involve nearly all areas of our daily lives. It is not hard to imagine that space-related scientific and technological achievements will bring industry value when they turn to civilian use.

 

 

On October 31, 2008, the Venezuela 1 Telecom Satellite, partly developed and researched by the Yantai 513 Institute, was successfully launched. It was the first time that China had offered the service of launching commercial satellites to Latin America.

 

Some European and American economists have issued statistics saying that the direct input-output ratio in the aerospace industry is around 1:2, and that in aerospace-related sectors the ratio is between 1:8 and 1:14. This means that if 1.5 billion yuan is invested, a profit of 3 billion yuan will be directly gained.

 

Han Liyan, professor of the School of Economics and Management at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, says that the aerospace industry is one that China has been investing heavily in for a long time, and since it is not a cyclical industry, it is not closely connected with the macro economy. So, the influence of the aerospace industry on the macro economy takes a long time to appear, however, the existence of the aerospace industry will inevitably drive the long-term development of the Chinese economy.

 

Some reports within the industry show that, in 1996, the profit that the global aerospace technology industry generated was 75 billion USD; in 2000, this had increased to 125 billion USD; and in 2010, the total income of the world’s commercial aerospace activities is expected to reach between 500 billion and 600 billion USD, of which, the market size of the global satellite industry is expected to reach between 200 billion to 300 billion USD.

 

In the next 10 years, it is expected that around 700 commercial satellites will be launched in the whole world. As a country with the ability to launch satellites, China will inevitably acquire a share.