Edited and reviewed by Zoe Gordon It’s gonna get crowded up there. Credit: ZME Science/AI-generated with Midjourney. The race to swamp low Earth orbit with satellites just entered a surreal new phase. In the dying days of 2025, while most of the world was preparing for New Year’s Eve, a newly formed entity in China subtly submitted paperwork that could reshape the night sky in a very major way. The filings, lodged with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), outline a plan to launch nearly 200,000 internet satellites. To put that staggering figure into perspective, humanity has launched fewer than 20,000 satellites in the entire history of spaceflight. This is a massive claim on orbital real estate. As the United States and China jostle for dominance in the vacuum of space, these filings represent a strategic maneuver to reserve frequency and physical space before competitors — specifically Elon Musk’s SpaceX — can lock it all down. The Paperwork Wars The details of the proposal are vast. On December 29, a group called the Institute of Radio Spectrum Utilisation and Technological Innovation filed submissions for two distinct constellations, designated CTC-1 and CTC-2. According to filings seen by the South China Morning Post, “The biggest projects – CTC-1 and CTC-2 – were for 96,714 satellites each.” Together, these two networks would comprise 193,428 satellites. The filing indicates they would be spread across “3,660 orbital planes”, creating a mesh of hardware designed to blanket the planet in connectivity. The entity behind this audacious plan is as new as the proposal itself. The institute was registered in China’s northern Hebei province on December 30, the day after it submitted its ITU filings. It appears to be a collaborative effort, jointly established by seven Chinese entities and situated in the Xiongan New Area, a development hub intended to link Beijing with surrounding provinces. Xiongan is sometimes referred to as China’s “City of the Future.” It’s supposed to serve as a model for high-tech, sustainable urban living, featuring smart city tech, green spaces, underground infrastructure, and a focus on innovation, AI, and green energy, aiming for a population of 5 million by 2035. A “Land Grab” in the Vacuum Components of the Long March 5B (Y2) to launch the Chinese space station core module at a facility in Tianjin. Credit: CMSA Why file for 200,000 satellites when you haven’t built them yet? The answer lies in how the UN manages space. The ITU operates on a system where filing first grants you priority over radio frequencies and orbital slots. If you file a plan today, subsequent operators have to prove they won’t interfere with your signal. ×