Internet Constellation _ Constellation Internet

Text/Chen Gen

Under the trend of the integration of heaven and earth, space exploration activities are becoming more and more frequent, especially the satellite launch in low earth orbit, which can be said to be very lively.

According to relevant statistics, in 20021year, there were 144 space launches in the world, and 18 16 spacecraft were sent into space, including 1777 in low earth orbit, and its popularity is obvious to all. Just this month, Space Exploration Technology Company also launched two batches of "Star Chain" satellites into low-earth orbit, and the China Long March II C carrier rocket successfully sent six low-orbit broadband communication satellites and/kloc-0 remote sensing satellites into the scheduled low-earth orbit.

At present, in the near-earth orbit within 0/000 km from the Earth/KLOC-a space beyond human eyes, new competition is gradually emerging, and China Internet satellites have also joined the competition, and the contest is becoming increasingly fierce.

The integrated network needs satellite internet.

Wide space. If we want to launch satellites from the ground into space, satellites can be divided into three categories according to their orbital heights:

Therefore, for the vast areas with low business density, it is more economical to use satellite communication system than to build ground communication network. We should know that although the total number of fixed Internet broadband access users in China exceeds 500 million, the proportion of optical fiber and 4G network access in administrative villages exceeds 98%. However, the developed countries in Europe and America have relatively low population density and scattered residence, which is not suitable for laying fixed broadband, especially optical fiber. High cost is a big expense for telecom operators, and the cost recovery time is long.

At the same time, for some types of services and applications, satellite communication system has certain advantages. Although ordinary users mainly live in cities or densely populated areas, navigation, aviation, islands and other areas also have strong network access needs. According to statistics, there are about 200,000 flights and hundreds of thousands of private yachts around the world, and there are also a large number of fishing boats and cargo ships with communication needs at sea. Deserts, forests and other areas also need a lot of network coverage, but it is difficult for traditional ground communication services to cover these areas. At this time, it needs to be supplemented by satellite internet.

It can be seen that the satellite Internet, as an important means of communication, is not opposed to mobile communication technologies such as 5G, but is constantly integrated to build an integrated communication network of land, sea and air. As early as June 2020, the 5G standard R 16 was released, and the technical documents of satellite Internet were included. At the same time, satellite internet, as an important part of building an integrated air-space communication network, has been included in the research and development of 6G, and will be smoothly switched with satellite internet in future ground mobile communication networks such as 5G and 6G.

On the other hand, compared with other satellites (geostationary orbit Qualcomm satellite and medium-earth orbit satellite), LEO satellites have the advantages of low launch cost, good observation effect and short in-orbit revisit period.

Under the condition of the same carrying capacity, the low orbit satellite can improve the ability to launch loads, and the cost-effectiveness ratio will be significantly higher than that of traditional satellites;

At the same time, due to the low orbit height, LEO satellites can quickly reach the scheduled orbit and start working, realize high-resolution ground reconnaissance, accurately grasp the surface and low-altitude meteorological conditions, and even the effect is much better than traditional satellites;

In-orbit revisit period is short, LEO satellites can reconnoiter and observe the same target in a short time interval, and the number of observation revisits is higher than that of traditional reconnaissance satellites, so clearer information can be obtained.

When the satellite is launched,

At present, LEO satellite Internet has become an important starting point for realizing smart aviation, smart ocean and smart agriculture, and an important platform facility for countries to carry out major scientific basic research. However, it is a global consensus that orbital resources are valuable non-renewable resources. This also makes the competition for low-orbit space increasingly fierce, and various commercial companies in various countries are seizing the low-orbit space resources.

Musk's Star Chain Project is the most ambitious satellite Internet project in the world. The Star Chain Project is a low-orbit satellite Internet constellation system proposed by Space Exploration Technology Company. The system consists of satellite constellations with different altitudes and several ground stations. After the system is completed, a constellation of 42,000 LEO satellites will provide high-speed Internet access service for the global satellite coverage area. By the end of 20021,Space Exploration Technology Company had launched 1944 satellite chains.

In addition to the satellite chain plan of Space Exploration Technology Company, there are many parties participating in the wave of satellite networking in 202 1. In 20021year, the British communication company OneWeb sent 284 OneWeb satellites into space through eight launches, bringing the total number of satellites in orbit to 394. Amazon's Kuiper plans to launch 3,236 low-earth orbit satellites, with an investment of more than $654.38 billion, but one satellite has not yet been launched. The Black Sky satellite of American BlackSky Company was launched five times, and a total of seven satellites were launched into orbit, and two failed. The clustered Earth observation constellation built and operated by American startup Planet Labs only uses 1 time to launch Flock-4s satellite.

Looking back at the domestic market, the launch demand of LEO satellites is obvious to all. In April, 20021,two remote sensing satellites "Qilu No.1" and "Qilu No.4" of Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology were all launched on the Long March 6 remote five carrier rocket, successfully completing the first commercial low-orbit satellite into orbit this year.

Also in orbit are the optical remote sensing satellite "Foshan No.1" developed by Beijing Gengyu Muxing Space Science and Technology Co., Ltd. for Ji Hua Laboratory, the optical remote sensing satellite "Taijing No.2 0 1" developed by micro-nano starry sky, two remote sensing satellites "Golden Bauhinia No.1" and "Golden Bauhinia No.1 02" developed by zero gravity space, and the "Apocalypse Constellation" 09 originated from space Neo-652.

In fact, as early as early as February, the commercial space shuttle verification satellite "Ark II" had completed its first flight, but due to the launch failure, the satellite failed to enter the scheduled orbit.

Since then, four commercial remote sensing satellites developed by Dongfanghong Satellite, Jing-3, Xiamen University's No.2 for coastal shallow sea ecological environment observation and research, No.1 from space for asteroid resource exploration and research, and Jilin-1, have been put into orbit in June and July of 2002/KLOC-0.

In June+10, 5438, the on-orbit atmospheric density detection satellite and commercial meteorological detection satellite developed by Dongfanghong Satellite, Tianyuan No.1 satellite developed by Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Golden Bauhinia No.2 satellite jointly developed by Shenzhen Space Technology Co., Ltd. and Jiutian MSI, LEO navigation enhanced test satellite developed by Gengyu Jupiter, Hede No.2 satellite developed by De Yuhang and VDES traffic test satellite developed by Shanghai Lizheng Satellite Application Technology Co., Ltd. were successfully put into orbit, becoming the first in this year.

In June+February, 5438, the meteorological observation satellite No.1 of Tianjin University jointly developed by Changguang Satellite and Tianjin Yunyao Aerospace, as well as Lize No.1, Baoyun No.5, Golden Bauhinia No.5 and Golden Bauhinia No.1 were also successfully put into orbit by private rocket Xinghe Power. Until the last launch of 202 1 at the end of the year, the number of satellites launched by 202 1 China was 97. Of course, there is still a certain gap with the United States and Russia.

From "National Team" to Aerospace Private Enterprises

According to relevant data, the number of global space launch reports in 2022 is about 260, far exceeding the number of 202 1 year. Among them, the number of planned launches in the United States rose to 145. Only American space exploration technology company plans to launch more than 50 times in 2022, including 45 Falcon 9 launches and 5 heavy Falcon launches.

In addition, except for the 358 satellites currently in orbit, OneWeb expects to complete the launch and deployment of all 648 low-earth orbit satellites in the first phase by the end of 2022; Amazon said that it plans to launch two "prototype" satellites into low earth orbit in the fourth quarter of 2022; The first launch plan of Telesat, a veteran satellite communication company in Canada, will be carried out in early 2023; Boeing Satellite Internet Project was just approved by FCC to deploy 1 147 satellite in early October of the same year.

In contrast, since China's "Starnet" constellation has not been rolled out on a large scale, China will continue to maintain the total number of rocket launches similar to that in 20021year, that is, it will still be around 50 times. However, we should know that with the launch of LEO satellites, various countries and commercial companies are seizing LEO resources, which means that the space left for late-developing countries is getting narrower and narrower, and orbital resources will become an important threshold.

For the commercial space development in China, which is still in its infancy, batch development is a very important progress, because satellites need to be networked and scaled to make sense. However, apart from control technology, the development of China recoverable launch vehicle is still restricted by liquid rocket engine. From this perspective, the recovery of liquid rockets depends largely on engine technology. In order to realize vertical recovery of rocket engine, it is necessary to have the ability of starting more than three times and the technology of continuously changing thrust in a large range.

Both the "national team" and the aerospace private enterprises know that the development of aerospace technology is a long-term road, and only by breaking through the bottleneck can we achieve rapid development. China should develop liquid rocket engine as soon as possible to meet the demand of launching more satellites at one time and master the recycling technology of abandoned satellites. Strive for more near-earth satellites and gain more initiative in space exploration.

In addition, at present, in China, the national team still plays a major role in the launch: Aerospace Science and Technology Group has completed 48 space launches; The private echelon Xinghe Power successfully launched one arrow and five stars, and StarCraft Glory completed two launches during the year. Therefore, in the face of a more commercialized satellite Internet market, what role should China play and what attitude should it take to deal with and face the competition is still an unsolved problem.

Usually, at the beginning, the national level invested money to develop satellites and rockets, because individuals or private enterprises did not have the strength to develop aerospace. For example, the cost of landing on the moon is equivalent to the cost of two aircraft carriers. However, with the development of productive forces, it is imperative to deepen space exploration, and the participation of private enterprises is also the general trend. Therefore, in addition to developing the "national team" aerospace technology, our satellite Internet should also develop civil aviation enterprises based on local conditions, which is different from the development of the "national team" and give full play to its advantages.

It can be predicted that in the future, satellite internet will develop a wide range of application prospects, such as low-orbit satellite internet, aerospace internet, car networking and so on. Become a strategic emerging industry with high technology, high input and high output. But the huge market and development potential also mean fierce competition. On the one hand, China, the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe and other countries and regions attach great importance to the deployment of satellite Internet. On the other hand, the space orbit and resources of LEO satellites are increasingly tense, and the battle for satellite launch "passport" is becoming increasingly fierce. The competition in the Internet market has shifted from the ground to the space.