China's annual two sessions are currently underway in Beijing. The newly released government work report highlights the need to develop new quality productive forces and foster emerging industries. Among these, aerospace and the low-altitude economy have been identified as key emerging pillar industries for China's future.
Guangdong has long been a leading force in the low-altitude economy. It leads the country in the drone sector, holding a 95 percent share of the consumer drone market and a 54 percent share of the industrial drone market. Guangdong-based companies have achieved a variety of technological breakthroughs, seeking new solutions for urban mobility.
Follow GO Guangdong to explore the Guangdong Aerospace Research Academy (GARA) in Nansha, Guangzhou, and discover how it contributes to the low-altitude economy and aerospace technology development.
Photo by GARA
Flying to work? Science fiction to become reality
Stepping into the R&D workshop of GARA, a flying device will immediately catch your eye. The single-person jetpack is equipped with six turbojet engines on both sides for propulsion, featuring a display and control interface that serves as the operating handle. High-precision sensors and algorithms enable real-time detection of the device's posture and thrust adjustment, ensuring stable flight even in turbulent airflow.
Photo by Xinhua, photographer Sun Wenhao
Chen Xuzhi, the project's technical lead, notes that the jetpack is incredibly user-friendly. People without any driving experience or relevant knowledge can also master it after short-term training, which is similar to operating a drone. Compared to international counterparts, this jetpack features pioneering autonomous flight capabilities. It has already achieved 8 minutes of manned free flight at 100 km/h, with a payload expected to exceed 100 kg.
Accordingly, mass production of the jetpack is expected to start on a small scale in the middle of 2026, with future applications in emergency rescue and special operations. Taking maritime anti-smuggling missions as an example, it will cut cross-island travel time from two hours by road to just a few minutes.
Photo by 金羊网
GARA's innovative design has also laid the groundwork for a multidimensional public transport network. The device enables vertical takeoff and landing without relying on traditional helipads, redefining urban low-altitude ecosystems and short-distance travel. In the near future, the once sci-fi scenario of flying to work from a home balcony could become a daily reality.
Photo by GARA
GARA provides a service platform to boost low-altitude economy
Nestled in Nansha District, Guangzhou, GARA stands as a "future factory" transforming how we travel. As a new-type R&D institution focused on the low-altitude economy and commercial aerospace, it is breaking technical bottlenecks for Guangdong's low-altitude economy, accelerating the commercialization of technological achievements, and driving industrial development through mass production.
Photo by 南沙投资
Guangdong accounts for over 30 percent of China's low-altitude economy industrial chain. In 2024, its low-altitude economy output exceeded 180 billion yuan. More than 15,000 related enterprises have settled in the province, covering the entire industrial chain and diverse scenarios. However, the industry still faces technical challenges. To address the situation, GARA has built a range of public technology service platforms, set to boost the R&D and manufacturing of low-altitude aircraft.
Photo by 广州南沙明珠湾管理局
In GARA's wind tunnel test zone, a drone is undergoing wind resistance testing in a Grade 7 wind environment. The tunnel serves as the first 4.5-meter-class wind tunnel in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Shang Zuming, the platform's director, explains that private low-altitude aircraft manufacturers previously struggled to access wind tunnel resources. Launched in July 2025, this South China's largest production-oriented wind tunnel platform is built for these private enterprises, providing testing services to enhance their products' safety and commercial viability.
Photo by 央视新闻
According to Li Zuowu, GARA's Chief Scientist, pre-production tests, which once took enterprises two years, can now be completed in just six months in the GARA. The platform will further drive the commercialization of drone logistics and flying-car technologies in the GBA.
Currently, GARA boasts a 29,000-square-meter research building and a 10,000-square-meter assembly and testing workshop, along with facilities including a flight operations command center, an aircraft takeoff and landing test site, a low-altitude aircraft wind tunnel test platform, a thermal and structural test platform, and an avionics laboratory.
The research building, and the assembly and testing workshop, photo by GARA
GARA offers immersive low-altitude tech experience on site
GARA's cutting-edge aerospace technologies are not distant concepts, but accessible to the public.
Photo by GARA
The Academy is home to the Greater Bay Area Aerospace Science Education Center, featuring three core exhibition areas: the Guangdong Aerospace Research Academy exhibition hall, the aerospace mechanics exhibition hall, and the assembly & testing workshop.
Photo by GARA
Photo by 广州市科技局
At the aerospace mechanics exhibition hall, visitors can explore how mechanics work through interactive activities, such as aerodynamic control experiments and a motion-sensing bike that simulates aircraft propulsion.
Photo by GARA
In the workshop, visitors will witness the operation of simulated wind fields and view a wide range of cutting-edge technologies, including flying jetpacks, air ambulances, and various large drones.
Photo by GARA
Here, aerospace technology is no longer vague concepts to admire from afar. It is an integral part of daily life, open to exploration, interaction, and endless innovation.
Photo by GARA
Reporter| Zhou Jiyin
Editor| Yin Juewen
Poster| Yang Chenyue