January 2026

For the better part of the last thirty years, the global consensus on industrial policy was defined by a specific, somewhat detached architecture. Governments, wary of being accused of “picking winners,” generally limited their interventions to the periphery of the market. They offered tax credits to spur R&D, provided grants to subsidize manufacturing, or established […]

China’s space program in 2025 offers a clear picture of how the country now approaches access to orbit: methodically, at scale, and with long-term strategic intent. China has been steadily focused on operational consistency. The result is a launch cadence that now rivals many other national programs. How many launches? Publicly available tracking data indicates