China is the only country to put a man in space after the Soviet Union and the United States, but it is only the third country to build ground stations in Antarctica to support its network of ocean monitoring satellites, state media said on Thursday February 2 China's global network of ground stations is concerned with a growing number of satellites and outer space ambitions, a suggestion that China rejects.
In 2020 Sweden's state-owned space company, which had provided ground stations that helped fly Chinese spacecraft and transmit data, declined to renew contracts with China or accept new Chinese business due to changes in geopolitics.
China Aerospace Science and Technology Group is expected to build the stations at the Zhongshan Research Base, one of two permanent Chinese research stations on Antarctica, after winning the tender with its 43.95 million yuan US $6.53 million bid, according to state-controlled China Space News.