A mysterious Chinese tycoon who plans to dig a second, $40 billion canal linking the Caribbean and the Pacific is spreading his reach into space with ambitions for a network of satellites, reports said Monday.

Wang Jing, who won a 50-year concession to build and operate a canal in Nicaragua last year, announced that one of his companies launched a test orbiter last month.

The move made Xinwei Telecom Enterprise Group the first private firm to invest in China's space industry, which is mostly military-run, Beijing News said.