Figure ① The technology research and development team of the Galaxy Aerospace Launch Star is working. Figure ② On January 16, 2020, at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the Galaxy Aerospace Launch Star is about to be launched. (Data picture) Figure ③ The "solar wing" of the Galaxy Aerospace Launch Star is in an unfolded state. (Data picture)
Not long ago, the first satellite of Galaxy Aerospace (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Galaxy Aerospace") achieved a communication application test of more than 3 minutes for the first time. The staff used their mobile phones to connect to the WiFi hotspot provided by the end point of the Galaxy satellite, and realized a 3-minute video call through this 5G satellite.
This call is destined to leave a strong mark in the history of China’s commercial aerospace. This shows that the first low-orbit 5G satellite independently developed by Chinese commercial companies is really coming. Previously, on February 16, Galaxy Aerospace successfully carried out a communication capability test after 30 days in orbit, and verified low-orbit Q/V/Ka and other frequency band communication for the first time in the world.
China’s satellite Internet has taken a major step forward
As a typical strategic emerging industry, commercial aerospace has significant technological traction and industrial driving role. In recent years, the United States has actively promoted the development of commercial aerospace. SpaceX (Space Exploration Company), Blue Origin and other commercial aerospace enterprises have developed rapidly, and satellite Internet and space tourism are on the horizon.
In this "space race", China’s commercial aerospace has not been absent. On January 16, the first Galaxy Aerospace satellite was successfully launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. It is not only China’s first low-orbit broadband communications satellite with a communication capacity of 10Gbps, but also the world’s first low-orbit high-frequency millimeter wave satellite.
On the day of the launch, Xu Ming, founder of Galaxy Aerospace (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd., excitedly posted a set of pictures on Moments. The satellite in the picture was written with the words "Be a good company". Xu Ming said that "Be a good company" is the original intention of Galaxy Aerospace. A good company should not only show the power of technology, but also truly care about human nature and find the intersection of technology and humanities. "The successful launch of the first star means that the company has made a good start on this road."
In fact, founding Galaxy Aerospace is the second time Xu Ming has started a business. Previously, he co-founded Cheetah Mobile with partners and drove the company to a successful listing.
After his first successful start-up, Xu Ming has been looking forward to new challenges. In 2016, the State Council issued the "13th Five-Year" National Strategic Emerging Industry Development Plan and the "2016 China’s Aerospace" white paper, encouraging and guiding private capital to participate in aerospace scientific research and production, and vigorously developing commercial aerospace and satellite applications.
The opportunity that Xu Ming had been waiting for for a long time finally came. In April 2018, Galaxy Aerospace, which had been brewing for a long time, was officially put into operation. In less than two years, it completed the whole process of low-orbit broadband communications satellite from design, research and development, launch to communication capability test, making Galaxy Aerospace one of the most valuable commercial aerospace enterprises in China.
Cross-border talent structure solidifies the foundation for innovation
A start-up company wants to build China’s first low-orbit broadband communications satellite with a communication capacity of 10Gbps from scratch, which seems like a "fantasy". However, Xu Ming is very confident. Because, unlike any traditional aerospace company, there are both Internet people and astronauts in the Galaxy Aerospace team, and this cross-border talent structure is Xu Ming’s confidence.
In the past two years, talents from the traditional aerospace field have completely changed to a new way of working, and began to try the Internet-style "small steps" and "rapid iteration"; for talents who were previously engaged in Internet technology, this is equivalent to entering a new field, transforming obscure aerospace technology into "simple output" and giving it new vitality. Allowing different talents to look at the same problem from different angles is the inherent gene of Galaxy Aerospace’s successful innovation.
Xu Ming said that the working mode of "small steps and fast iteration" of the Internet has allowed Galaxy Aerospace to carry out a large number of low-cost attempts in the development process of the first star, such as modular design, customized interface chips, industrial production and processing, etc., which has greatly reduced research and development costs and shortened the development cycle.
As a start-up company, Galaxy Aerospace has been seeking opportunities for breakthroughs through innovative efforts since its inception. Especially at present, the Ku/Ka frequency band resources have become saturated, and with the increasing difficulty of frequency coordination, international commercial communications satellites are gradually developing into higher frequency bands. In this regard, Galaxy Aerospace has taken the lead and used the technically difficult Q/V/Ka frequency bands in the launch star. Since there is no technology and experience to learn from, this is undoubtedly a challenging journey.
Q/V/Ka and other frequency bands, as the most suitable frequency bands for satellite communication services in the millimeter wave band, have wider bandwidth.
"If the information transmitted by millimeter wave is understood as the traffic flow on the road, then using the bandwidth of frequency bands such as Q/V/Ka means that the car is faster, the road is wider, and the traffic flow is larger, which also means that we need more advanced road construction technology." Xu Ming said that in order to make more cars run on the road and build viaducts, it is a good solution to open the bridge and under the bridge at the same time. Therefore, in order to achieve the 10Gbps communication rate goal, Galaxy Aerospace has also built a "viaduct", that is, using the frequency band dual polarization technology implementation to double the communication rate.
In addition, in order to improve system flexibility, Galaxy First Satellite also adopts multi-port amplifier (MPA) technology in the user transmission section, which can realize dynamic capacity allocation between multiple beams. This is also the first broadband Ka-band MPA on-orbit application in our country, and all components have been localized.
Broadband satellite communication needs to be met urgently
Nowadays, an era of commercial spaceflight is quietly approaching.
At present, there are still about 80% of the world’s regions (including oceans and remote and underdeveloped areas, etc.) with nearly 50% of the population unable to access the Internet. On the one hand, these regions often have weak infrastructure, and large-scale construction of terrestrial network systems has a huge investment, and the input-output ratio is seriously unbalanced. Satellite communication will provide a low-cost solution for network coverage in these regions and populations. On the other hand, it is very difficult to connect sea areas, airspace and terrestrial networks, and space-based Internet is the only known solution. A representative data is that as of the end of 2018, our country had nearly 4,000 civil aviation aircraft, but because our country’s airborne communication business is still in its infancy, about 90% of them cannot achieve rear cabin network coverage.
The huge Internet divide has put forward higher requirements for broadband satellite communication. It is predicted that the scale of China’s 5G industry will exceed 3 trillion yuan in 2025 and 6 trillion yuan in 2030, which is expected to drive the income of related industries on the scale of 10 trillion yuan. This means that in the future, 5G satellites will serve as an effective solution to complement the ground 5G network and create a 5G network that integrates heaven and earth.
It is worth noting that, due to the wide range of satellite communication services and the absence of any impact from the earth’s surface geographical environment, satellite Internet, represented by low-orbit broadband satellite constellations, will not only become an important solution for achieving global satellite communication network coverage in the 5G and even 6G era, but also is expected to become an important trend and strategic commanding height for the integrated development of aerospace, communications, and Internet industries, providing new driving force for national and local economic development.
Experts say that with the development of satellite communication technology, countries have upgraded satellite Internet construction to a national strategy in recent years, and attracted a number of aerospace and Internet Tech Giants. Take the United States as an example, SpaceX, Amazon and other companies have made arrangements. SpaceX took the lead in deploying giant constellations and has successfully launched 420 satellites, marking that the United States has entered a substantive construction stage in this field. In the current international environment, satellite Internet construction must be accelerated.
Commercial aerospace ushers in huge industrial opportunities
Today, Galaxy Aerospace’s pace of innovation is accelerating.
"China’s aerospace start-up companies are actually very weak." Xu Ming said that only by breaking through hard core technology and being "reliable" in technology can we solve the fundamental problems that hinder the development of the company. "Because of this, we still insist on research and development during the epidemic, and have made progress in many key technologies."
Xu Ming said that in the next step, the company will introduce Moore’s Law into the field of communications satellites through the digitalization of payloads, accelerate innovation, improve "on-board computing power", comprehensively accelerate the iteration of satellite technology, and promote the "seamless integration" of satellite networks and terrestrial 5G networks as soon as possible through the application level innovation of communications satellite systems.
Xu Ming believes that with the overall progress of our country’s scientific and technological level and the gradual opening of policies and markets, huge business opportunities have emerged in many fields. "To some extent, aerospace may represent the future large-scale industrial system."
The first star was the company’s first step, and Xu Ming is full of confidence in the future.
"This is the era of commercial aerospace. In terms of market, China’s aerospace industry has an output value of 300 billion yuan; in terms of manufacturing, China has the world’s leading manufacturing capabilities. Take satellite production as an example. In the future, in the mass production of satellites, China’s high-quality skilled workers and the world’s leading manufacturing capabilities will show obvious advantages," Xu Ming said.
In addition, the rapid development of China’s aerospace industry chain also provides strong support for commercial aerospace. "In the development and production process of the first satellite, many components are innovatively used industrial-grade or automotive-grade products, which can greatly reduce costs while achieving the same function." Xu Ming said, "In the future, Galaxy Aerospace will jointly explore new models of low-cost satellite component design and mass production with relevant domestic enterprises, and promote the gradual improvement of the entire ecological chain."
"The inclusion of satellite Internet in the’new infrastructure ‘will undoubtedly further accelerate the development of the upstream and downstream of the entire industrial chain, which is of great significance for the construction of 5G network and the cultivation of digital space economy. Private commercial aerospace enterprises should give full play to their own advantages to help our country’s satellite Internet construction. It is foreseeable that with the further opening of our country’s aerospace industry policy, commercial aerospace is expected to usher in a new round of accelerated development." Xu Ming said. (Economic Daily · China Economic Network reporter, Wang Yichen)
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