From steel to space: China giant sells first 2 satellites as bold pivot bears fruit

Jigang Group spent decades forging the metal for China’s infrastructure boom. Now, the former industrial titan is building hardware for the final frontier.

The state-owned company, once one of the nation’s top steel producers, has secured orders for its first two satellites – an all-important step in its years-long transformation to capture demand in the country’s burgeoning commercial space industry.

Reporting this week on the purchase, the Economic Observer said production was expected to begin this month at the company’s new satellite-assembly base in Jinan, the provincial capital of Shandong. No buyer names were given, and it was unclear if multiple buyers were involved.

“In 2017, Jigang Group – once China’s seventh-largest steel producer – shut down its furnaces, phased out 10 million tonnes of production capacity, and embarked on a path of transformation,” Zhao Liang, the project head at the firm’s subsidiary, the Jinan Satellite Industry Development Group, told the paper.

Years in the making, the transition was marked by a 450 million yuan (US$62 million) investment in 2023 to establish the satellite-assembly base and position the firm in the aerospace supply chain.

Three months ago, the Jinan government said the base was set for production. Authorities noted that it could already produce up to 20 satellites a year, each weighing about 500kg (1,100lbs).