In the early morning of February 3, at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, a 43-meter-long rocket spewed out billowing flames, marking a shining light in the air.
Within 13 minutes, the rocket and the satellite completed the separation of the satellite and the rocket, and after the top 1 satellite and the upper 5 satellites were released at the same time, the lower 5 satellites immediately separated from the rocket, and 11 satellites successfully entered the orbit, and the launch mission was a complete success.
Behind this satellite launch is a commercial space company, Shikong Daoyu, founded by Dr. Wang Yang.
This mission is actually the 'Geely Future Planetary Constellation' in the way of whole-track deployment11 satellites were put into the predetermined orbit to complete the networking and deployment of the second orbital plane of the constellation。Wang Yang, CEO of Spacetime Daoyu and chief system engineering expert, explained.
Geely Future Planetary Constellation, a low-orbit satellite network over the Earth, is the world's first commercial integrated constellation of communication, navigation and remote sensing, built and operated by Space-Time Daoyu.
With its excellent strength, Spacetime Daoyu ranks among the top of the commercial aerospace track, has been recognized by the capital market, and has a valuation of more than 10 billion yuan.
Dream in space
What Daoyu is doing is a romantic thing.
Aerospace is the most romantic industry, which carries the dream of human beings to explore the universe. Wang Yang said. In 2018, he founded Spacetime Daoyu.
According to the official website, Spacetime Daoyu is positioned as a provider of aerospace information and communication infrastructure and application solutions, covering the entire industrial chain from satellite research and development, manufacturing to application.
To use a popular analogy, Huawei provides ground-based information and communication (ICT) products, and Space-Time Daoyu provides space-based information and communication products (AICT), both of which are committed to technological innovation and commercial applications in the field of human information and communication. Wang Yang explained the company's positioning.
Since its establishment, this company has developed rapidly in the vast starry skyWang Yang's team sent 20 satellites through the whole orbit deploymentto complete the deployment of two orbital planes.
In June 2022, Spacetime Daoyu successfully launched 9 satellites in the first orbit of Geely's future travel constellation, completed the deployment of the first orbital plane of the constellation, and successfully completed a series of work such as mass production of satellites, orbital surface-level deployment, constellation-level tracking and control, and application testing.
Wang Yang said that the launch of 11 satellites in early 2024 to complete the second orbital plane deployment, although it sounds similar, there are actually many differences.
For example, each orbital plane is a separate system. Compared with the first orbital plane, the second orbital plane involves more work, including phase synchronization, ground measurement and operation control of the two orbital planes, in-orbit management of asterisms, and avoidance of space debris. Wang Yang said.
The construction of China's commercial low-orbit satellite constellation is still in its infancy, and the first problem faced by domestic commercial aerospace enterprises is the mass production of satellites.
It is worth noting that Wang Yang's team has reduced the cost of satellite manufacturing and solved the problem of mass production and commercial application of satellites.
Morgan Stanley estimates that SpaceX Starlink satellites cost about $1 million to manufacture.
Founder Elon Musk revealed that the cost of a single satellite can drop to $500,000.
On the other hand, in China, according to the research report of Zhejiang businessmen, China's low-orbit communication satellitesThe average cost is about 30 million yuan, of which labor plus manufacturing costs account for half.
Faced with the pain point of high cost, Spacetime Daoyu built a satellite super factory.
It draws on the intelligent and automated mass production and manufacturing mode of the automobile industry, and greatly compresses the design and production cycle of satellites through modular design, flexible production, intelligent manufacturing and other technologies, and can now achieve a daily production of satellites, reducing production costs by about 45%.
With the successful deployment of the two orbital planes, Spacetime Daoyu, which has a satellite super factory, has become an enterprise with the ability to independently build and operate commercial satellite constellations after Iridium, GlobalStar, Orbcomm, OneWeb, and SpaceX, and has also become the only commercial aerospace enterprise in China to realize the entire orbital deployment of the constellation.
Wang Yang revealed that in the next two years,The company will complete the deployment of 72 satellites in the first phase of the constellation to achieve global real-time data communication services；The second phase will be expanded to 168 satellites to achieve global centimeter-level high-precision positioning services.
We hope to provide reliable and low-cost services for human travel, such as autonomous driving, intelligent networking, and consumer electronics industries.
I think that in the future, every person and every car will be equipped with satellite communications. Wang Yang said.
It's been gathering momentum for a long time
It is no accident that the Space-Time Daoyu can achieve such an achievement. On the road of commercial aerospace, its core team has been exploring for 10 years.
Wang Yang graduated from Harbin Institute of Technology and worked at Huawei and the Institute of Microsatellite Innovation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In 2014, he resolutely gave up his job in the system and founded a commercial satellite company.
In the course of decades of work in scientific research institutions and private commercial aerospace companies, Wang Yang's team has led the development of whole satellites and on-board payloads, satellite mass production AITs, constellation construction and large system planning, and ...... research and development of satellite application terminal productsHe has accumulated rich experience in aerospace system engineering projects.
In November 2018, Wang Yang led the team to lead the development of the "Jiading-1" IoT communication satellite for four years, which was successfully launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, opening China's first IoT communication constellation layout.
After the establishment of Spacetime Daoyu, this team became its technical team.
Up to now, the team has gradually grown and expanded, and the team has nearly 500 employees, of which more than 7% are technicians.
It is understood that since 2000, there have been no more than 100 important satellite models in ChinaThe engineers of Space-Time Daoyu participated in the completion of at least 50 satellites
That is to say, the average person has complete experience in more than 5 national key satellite models.
Aerospace is a high-risk undertaking with only 0s and 1s to turn out. Even with comprehensive control of the process, there are still uncontrollable factors.
At the end of 2021, the first double satellite launch failed due to rocket reasons, Wang Yang said to the team, "Since we have chosen this track, we have to bear everything in this track." ”
Our team has fought a few tough battles. ”
Wang Yang said, "Including the unfortunate failure of the first double star due to the abnormal flight of the rocket; Geely's future travel constellation was successfully launched into orbit with one arrow and nine satellites in the first orbit for long-term on-orbit testing and management; This time, we have successfully completed the launch and deployment of the second orbital plane of the constellation. ”
After many tests, Time and Space Daoyu has created a team that dares to think and fight,"The reserve of structure and professional competence is very solid
In addition to its technical strength, the company also has commercial acumen.
Through commercial technology innovation, vertical integration of the industrial chain, and market-driven goals, we manage projects and layout businesses, and successfully complete the transformation from a high-tech team serving national tasks to a commercial technical team that meets market demand to serve commercial operations. Wang Yang introduced.
The rapidly rising space-time Daoyu has been recognized by the capital market in just 6 years, and its valuation has soared.
A super unicorn on the commercial space track is speeding up.
Accelerate the landing
The trillion-dollar commercial aerospace track has a vast space, but how to achieve commercialization is a major problem.
Throughout the world, companies such as Iridium and oneweb have lost money or gone bankrupt because their business models could not be closed. SpaceX has achieved profitability by building a full commercial aerospace industry chain, proving that this business model can work.
In terms of commercialization, Spacetime Daoyu is at the forefront of the industry.
In terms of commercial satellite manufacturing, in addition to producing satellites required for Geely's future travel constellation, Spacetime Daoyu also actively undertakes external satellite manufacturing and testing needs.
According to the data of "International Space", the number of spacecraft developed and launched in the world has developed by leaps and boundsFrom 215 ten years ago to 2,945 in 2023, an increase of 13 times
With the continuous improvement of the operational application capability of small satellites, a round of "orbital revolution" has been set off around the world.
The large-scale deployment of the global low-orbit satellite constellation has promoted the number of spacecraft launches around the world to continue to rise.
Data shows that the number of satellites that can accommodate low-orbit space in the world is about 100,000.
In the next five years, China's low-orbit satellite manufacturing and launch demand is expected to enter a period of growth, and 30,000-40,000 low-orbit satellites are expected to be launched.
To achieve such a scale, there is still a 90% gap in the annual production capacity of domestic microsatellites. This gap is the main market for commercial satellite companies.
Compared with other domestic commercial aerospace enterprises,With its own satellite super factory, Spacetime Daoyu realizes the mass production of satellitesIt has faster constellation networking construction capabilities and is highly competitive.
At the same time as the construction of the constellation, Spacetime Daoyu provides satellite application services for incremental markets such as automotive travel and consumer electronics, and will become the world's first commercial company to realize the mass production and application of satellite communication at the vehicle level in 2023.
In this way, through large-scale commercial landing, Spacetime Daoyu effectively builds a constellation service business model.
If private commercial aerospace wants to succeed, the biggest difficulty is to find a suitable business scenario and carry out technological innovation and business model innovation around a feasible business model. Wang Yang believes that self-hematopoietic ability is very important.
After 6 years of deep cultivation, Spacetime Daoyu has completed the layout of the whole industrial chain covering satellite R&D, manufacturing, measurement and control, and applicationIt became the first private aerospace enterprise in China to achieve a closed commercial loop
After in-depth industry research and market calculation, Spacetime Daoyu focuses on satellite manufacturing and satellite applications, aiming at potential markets such as future travel and consumer electronics.
In the mass consumer market, satellite applications are still in the early stages of popularization.
At the end of January, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other seven departments jointly issued the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Innovation and Development of Future Industries", which proposed a forward-looking layout of key technology research such as 6G, satellite Internet, and mobile phone direct connection to satellite.
In the field of vehicle regulation, as a scientific and technological innovation enterprise under Geely Holding Group, Shikong Daoyu has a broad business ecosystem.
Last year, Spacetime Daoyu and ZEEKR launched the world's first mass-produced satellite communication passenger car, and related technologies have been implemented in front-loading mass production of ZEEKR 001FR, ZEEKR 007, Geely Galaxy E8 and other models.
In addition, the Space-Time Daoyu Satellite-based High Precision Positioning (PPP-RTK) has also achieved the world's first large-scale service on the vehicle, which will accelerate the commercialization of high-level autonomous driving.
As mainstream mobile phone manufacturers such as Huawei and Apple accelerate their embrace of the field of satellite communications, an emerging track belonging to "smart phone + satellite communication" has been paved.
At the beginning of the design of the constellation, Starlink V2 Mini was planned to add the function of direct connection to satellite communication with mobile phones, which can provide satellite SMS and data transmission services. Wang Yang revealed.
At the end of last year, Daoyu displayed its self-developed 22nm communication chip that supports mobile phones directly connected to satellites at the first Chain Expo, ready to quickly enter the satellite communication mass service market.
In foreign countries, oneweb cooperates with Qualcomm to develop related products.
In line with the 6G era, Spacetime Daoyu hopes to lock in industrial advantages in advance
In September 2023, the company will jointly build a laboratory with Peking University, which is committed to conquering the core technology in the field of future communication - simultaneous co-frequency full-duplex communication technology to accelerate the implementation of industrial applications.
Opportunity is reserved for those who are prepared.
It is foreseeable that Spacetime Daoyu will deeply empower the fields of autonomous driving, intelligent networking, and consumer electronics, and draw a blueprint for future smart travel.
As rocket expert Tsiolkovsky said, "The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but humanity cannot be bound to the cradle forever." ”
With more than exploration, Spacetime Daoyu is growing into an important force in domestic commercial aerospace.