Editor's note:?China recently released its first commercial space standards, underscoring the role of standardization in guiding the growth of the space industry. China Central Television spoke to Yang Kewei, a researcher at the China Center for Information Industry Development, on the country's commercial space industry. Below are excerpts of the interview. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

Till now, fragmentation marked the commercial space sector. Rocket and satellite manufacturers operated according to their own technical specifications. Without common standards, collaboration along the industry chain was inefficient.

The newly released standards provide clear safety benchmarks and enable companies to "speak the same language" for better coordination.

Safety is the bottom line for the industry. Traditional aerospace prioritizes reliability regardless of cost, but such an approach is less suited to a commercial environment. The key is to find a workable balance between maintaining safety and enabling growth.

In the future, three priorities will influence the industry. First, clear boundaries should be established. This includes setting firm requirements around launch costs, production processes and data security to prevent disorderly expansion and unmanaged risks.

Second, standards should guide companies on what is expected of them, while also helping local authorities better regulate the industry.

Third, the goal is to safeguard safety thresholds while allowing companies to experiment, iterate and improve.

Once a system of standards is in place, several situations are likely to follow. Costs will fall, as standardization enables mass production of rockets and faster technological iteration. Lower launch costs will, in turn, reduce expenses across the industry chain, driving down the overall cost of commercial space operations.

Innovation is also expected to accelerate. With common standards, companies can build on existing work rather than duplicate efforts, leading to faster improvement cycles. At a broader level, the aerospace industry will be upgraded from a collection of engineering projects to a healthy industry ecosystem rooted in China's vast manufacturing base.

China has considerable advantages in commercial space activities. The main advantage is that the country has a comprehensive industrial system and a complete manufacturing supply chain. On the demand side, the country's large population provides strong market potential. Institutionally, China also benefits from a system that can mobilize resources for major national initiatives.

But there are still some challenges. Business models and revenue streams in commercial space are still evolving and coordination across the industry chain needs to be strengthened. A key development path for commercial space is to find application scenarios that drive the sector's growth.

Greater coordination is also needed between different segments of the industry. This includes closer collaboration among rocket manufacturers, satellite developers, operators and terminal providers, as well as better alignment between central and local authorities. Financial resources should be used effectively to enhance the overall capabilities of the sector.

Finally, the relationship between State-owned enterprises and private companies will play a key role. SOEs are well positioned to advance national strategies, leveraging their strengths in resource integration.

Private companies, on the other hand, have higher market sensitivity. Their strength lies in their ability to rapidly iterate business models, drive cost reductions and efficiency gains, and expand into new markets.

The SOEs should cooperate with private companies and research institutes to establish innovation centers and accelerate technological breakthroughs to upgrade China's commercial space industry.