Is CGSTL Going to Be Sanctioned Again?
One of China's commercial satellite operators is allegedly working with a group the U.S. isn't fond of.
The Financial Times is reporting that Changguang Satellite Technology Co Ltd (长光卫星技术股份有限公司), commonly known as CGSTL and operator of China’s largest commercial satellite fleet, has sold imagery from orbit to Yemen’s Houthis, who control significant parts of the country.
This reporting comes via U.S. government sources, who are unhappy with the company’s actions, according to the Financial Times. No solid claims or accusations were levied in the report, only statements from American officials claiming CGSTL imagery could have been used to target American warships.
Government sources speaking to the Financial Times claim they have raised their concerns with Chinese officials, stating:
“The United States has raised our concerns privately numerous times to the Chinese government on Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co Ltd’s role in supporting the Houthis in order to get Beijing to take action,” — “We urge our partners to judge the Chinese Communist party and Chinese companies on their actions, not their empty words,” — “Beijing should take this priority seriously when considering any future support to CGSTL.”
The U.S. State Department’s spokesperson, and former conservative political commentator, Tammy Bruce added:
“The US will not tolerate anyone providing support to foreign terrorist organisations such as the Houthis.”
With the comments from American officials, the U.S. could be preparing to sanction the company as part of the ongoing U.S.-initiated trade war. If sanctioned due to selling imagery to Yemen’s Houthis, it wouldn’t be the first time CGSTL has felt the heavy hand of U.S. sanctions.
Back in 2023, the company was sanctioned for selling satellite imagery to Russia’s Wagner Group, a now disgraced private military, via Beijing Yunze Technology Co Ltd (北京云泽科技有限公司), which also got hit with sanctions. The contract between Beijing Yunze and Wagner, via proxy company Nika-Frut, was reportedly signed over a year early in November 2022.
Agence France-Presse reported that the contract was worth 30 million United States Dollars (then 235 million Yuan). Areas imaged with the satellites under contract were parts of Ukraine, Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Mali, and parts of Russia during the Wagner mutiny.
Whether new sanctions will bring any new business challenges for CGSTL will be debatable, due to existing sanctions and a global shift away from the U.S. to China since the start of Trump’s second term.
To date, CGSTL has 140 satellites in low Earth and sun-synchronous orbit, enabling the company to image much of the planet around thirty-five times per day. The company was founded in 2014 by the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (长春光学精密机械与物理研究所), with its first spacecraft launch in 2015.