sbdcsierra Chapter 171 Commercial Spaceflight
Chapter 171 Commercial Spaceflight
When Zuo Cheng entered the strategic conference room, the large screen was already lit up.
Seven people sat on either side of a long table. Yu Ying was on the far left, a stack of track data spread out in front of her. Li Guodong was next to her, holding a red pen, the cap opening and closing repeatedly. Han Lu leaned back in her chair, her phone screen facing down on the table. Shen Yiming, Ma Hao, Fang Ze, and Chen Hao each occupied a seat, their notebooks open, barely written on.
"I have something to tell you today," Zuo Cheng said, pulling out the chair at the head of the table but remaining standing. "Commercial spaceflight."
There was a two-second silence in the conference room.
Li Guodong was the first to react. He placed the red pen on the table, leaving a small red ink dot on the paper.
"After the successful launch of the verification satellite for space photovoltaics, I've been thinking about this direction," said Li Guodong. "Launch cost is our biggest variable; if we can reduce it, the entire business model will be completely different."
"How much will it drop?" Zuo Cheng asked.
"At the current level, the cost of launching into low Earth orbit is about $5,000 per kilogram. That translates to $15 million for the launch of a three-ton satellite," Li Guodong said, pulling a piece of paper from his folder. The paper contained several sets of handwritten figures, his handwriting somewhat messy. "SpaceX, using reusable rockets, has reduced the cost to around $3,000 per kilogram, and it's continuing to lower it. Their goal is $200 per kilogram."
Yu Ying looked up: "Two hundred? That's equivalent to one twenty-fifth of what it is now."
"Yes." Li Guodong nodded. "If China can achieve this level, the deployment cost of space photovoltaics will be halved. Not only space photovoltaics, but also satellite internet, remote sensing observation, on-orbit services—the barriers to entry for all aerospace applications will drop by an order of magnitude."
Han Lu leaned forward: "And the market size?"
"In 2020, the global commercial space market was approximately $350 billion," Li Guodong said, turning the paper over to reveal a few more lines on the back. "Satellite manufacturing and operation accounted for half, launch services for about 15%, and the remainder for ground equipment and application services. But launch services are the bottleneck within this $350 billion. If launch capacity can't keep up, even if satellites are built, they can't be deployed. In the next five years, if launch costs can truly be reduced to below $500 per kilogram, the market size will double."
Shen Yiming interjected, "What are our advantages?"
"Three," Li Guodong said, holding up one finger. "First, space photovoltaics has allowed us to establish a deep cooperative relationship with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and the experience gained from modifying the Long March 2C rocket can be directly transferred. Second, our AI capabilities have a clear advantage over traditional aerospace research institutes in rocket attitude control, trajectory optimization, and landing accuracy. Third, and most importantly, we have practical applications. Space photovoltaics require regular network replenishment and satellite updates, which are stable and predictable launch needs, not a one-off deal."
Zuo Cheng listened without saying a word.
He leaned back in his chair, gazing out the conference room window. The sky over Hangzhou was a greyish-white, and in the distance, several tall buildings were under construction, with the booms of tower cranes slowly turning.
The system panel flashed through his mind. With the six branches activated, his perception of the technological path was sharper than before. There was a "satellite attitude control" blade in the space photovoltaic branch, and attitude control happened to be one of the core challenges of rocket recovery.
"Posture control," Zuo Cheng suddenly said.
Li Guodong paused for a moment, then realized: "Yes, the core difficulty of vertical recovery is attitude control. As the rocket returns from orbit, it needs to adjust its attitude in the atmosphere, ignite its engines to decelerate, and finally land vertically. Any control error during this process, even for a second, can lead to a crash. SpaceX's Falcon 9 failed in its first few recovery attempts, exploding several times before finally succeeding."
"Our AI team can do this." Zuo Cheng turned to Shen Yiming, "How much faster is the real-time inference capability of neuromorphic chips in rocket attitude control compared to traditional solutions?"
Shen Yiming thought for two seconds: "Theoretically, it should be five to ten times. But the actual operating conditions of a rocket are much more complex than ground tests; vibration, temperature, and electromagnetic interference all need to be re-verified."
"Then let's verify it," Zuo Cheng said.
He stood up and walked to the large screen. The screen was still empty; there were no PowerPoint presentations, no data charts, just a pure white projection background.
"Three things," Zuo Cheng said. "First, establish a commercial space project team, led by Li Guodong, drawing personnel from the research institute, prioritizing engineers with aerospace backgrounds. Second, complete a technical roadmap survey within three months to determine whether we should develop the entire rocket, the core subsystems, or launch services. Third, talk to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation to see their plans for commercial spaceflight, find areas for cooperation, and avoid reinventing the wheel."
"What about the budget?" Han Lu asked.
"Let's allocate 100 million yuan initially as preliminary research funding," Zuo Cheng said. "We can add more if that's not enough."
Ma Hao was the first to speak: "We'll send two people from the Unmanned Systems Division. The automatic landing module on the drone has similarities to rocket recovery."
"We can also support new energy vehicles," Fang Ze said. "Battery management and thermal control are also needed on rockets."
Chen Hao added, "The Satellite Communications Division can provide experience in payload integration, and the interface specifications are readily available."
Yu Ying concluded by saying, "The research institute will fully cooperate. I will adjust the assembly schedule for the second-generation satellite; Qiu Pei and Wei Jia will each dedicate half their time to come."
"Then it's settled," Zuo Cheng said. "Starting next week, Li Guodong will set up the project team, and I want to see the technical roadmap report three months from today."
The meeting ended, and everyone got up to leave.
As Li Guodong reached the door, he turned back and asked, "President Zuo, why did you choose to enter the commercial space industry now?"
Zuo Cheng stood by the window, his back to him.
"Because the window of opportunity is fast approaching," Zuo Cheng said. "SpaceX has been developing reusable rockets for ten years, while China's commercial space industry is still in its infancy. In three years, if no domestic company can achieve vertical recovery, this market will be completely dominated by foreign companies. We need to build up that capability before that point in time."
Li Guodong nodded and walked out.
Zuo Cheng remained alone in the conference room. Outside the window, darkness fell, and the lights of Hangzhou gradually came on. In the distance, towards the airport, a plane was climbing, its taillights flashing, before disappearing into the clouds.
The system panel glowed quietly deep within my consciousness: 517 points, six branches, a 1.3x technology increase. Six branches remained unlit, one of which was commercial spaceflight.
The successful launch of the verification satellite, the collaborative experience gained from the Long March 2C rocket, and the AI team's accumulated expertise in control algorithms—all these things were laid out like puzzle pieces on a table. His task was to piece them together into a complete picture.