The CDSN is managed by the China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control Center General (CLTC) of the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force Space Systems Department.

Similar deep space networks are run by the United States, Russia, European countries, Japan, and India.

In principle, a Chinese deep space network has existed since 1993 with the commissioning of the Nanshan 25-meter telescope in the mountains south of Ürümqi.

The 25-meter antenna of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory was then not only able to participate in the Southern Hemisphere VLBI Experiment program, but also to form its own Chinese baseline together with Ürümqi and observe and measure distant objects.

[citation needed] All stations are equipped with high-precision hydrogen maser clocks and connected via powerful communication networks.