How many steps do you need to take from Yizhuang Rocket Street to outer space
2024-06-12
How much does it cost to send one kilogram of goods to the sky? Ten years ago, this may not have been something that ordinary people would consider. In the vast blueprint of landing on the moon, exploring the fire, and going day by day, with the background of human destiny, it seems that the only thing ordinary people can do is look up at the stars. In the repeated attempts of the country to break through the boundaries of the universe, few people will calculate how much real gold and silver were burned at the moment the rocket was ignited. But now it's different, rockets are becoming cheaper. In November 2014, the State Council issued its first document encouraging the development of commercial aerospace; This year, "commercial aerospace" was included in the government work report for the first time. With more and more commercial rockets soaring into the sky, the development, launch, and transportation costs of rockets are falling from sky high prices. In 2023, China's private rocket enterprises launched a total of 13 times, setting a new record for China's commercial aerospace industry since its development. It was also in this year that Li Zhiming, who worked in the marketing department of a commercial satellite company, smelled the smell of price reductions. In Li Zhiming's view, rocket companies are like express delivery companies, they mainly earn a fee for sending satellites into outer space. In 2022, Li Zhiming's satellite company officially cooperated with a commercial rocket company, paying a "express fee" of 130000 yuan/kg to send two satellites weighing over a hundred kilograms into a 500km solar synchronous orbit. In 2023, the average market price is between 80000-120000 yuan/kg. This year, as technology becomes more mature, Li Zhizhi clearly feels that commercial rocket companies are particularly competitive in terms of price: the market average price has been lowered to 60000 to 90000 yuan/kg, and some rocket companies have even offered prices below 50000 yuan/kg. Some rocket companies have proposed "free installation" to verify the new model. According to today's commercial rocket shipping prices in China, jokingly speaking, it would cost over 4 million yuan to transport a person weighing 60 kilograms into the sky. But in the near future, with the development of the global aerospace industry, the cost of traveling to space by rocket will accelerate towards the wallets of ordinary people. This is also one of the goals pursued by commercial aerospace - to shuttle through the Milky Way we once gazed upon, and to observe the blue planet we live on at this moment. The founder of "Gousou" on Rocket Street is located in Yizhuang, located in the southeast corner of Beijing and outside the Fifth Ring Road, with about 10 private aerospace enterprises in the central and top regions. Within a radius of 3 kilometers around Rongchang East Street subway station, there are six rocket companies scattered, including Blue Arrow Aerospace, Xinghe Power, and Interstellar Glory. The industry's term "Rocket Street" refers to this area. In May, walking on the lush Rocket Street, with blooming roses and shared bicycles on both sides, those companies studying "heaven" are hidden in the industrial park, making it difficult to see a sense of technology from the outside. The office building of Starry Glory is composed of gray tiles, which is slightly rustic. It is a commercial rocket company founded in 2016, with models of engines, cable networks, and aircraft placed inside the gray walls. The first commercial rocket successfully launched into orbit in China's aerospace industry was conceived from here. It was July 25, 2019, and the Star Glory "Hyperbolic One" remote one commercial carrier rocket landed on the front pages of CCTV News and major newspapers, and the company's valuation jumped from 3 billion yuan to 6 billion yuan. At that time, the company had just rented out the third floor of this quaint building. Prior to this, more than 20 people were squeezed into a spacious office of over 60 square meters - now the office of founder Peng Xiaobo, with traces of partitions from 7 years ago still on the floor tiles. "I used to sit in that corner to work." Peng Xiaobo told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network. He was 45 years old when he resigned and started his own business. He originally thought that entrepreneurship was moving from one big ship to another small ship, but he didn't realize that entrepreneurship had to start with "chopping wood" to build a ship. When I first rented this office, there was nothing inside. In order to save money, the founding team's He Guanghui went to the furniture market to negotiate a price, and finally negotiated a set of furniture for over 2000 yuan. Due to the fierce bargaining, the furniture owner refused to assemble and move the furniture. He Guanghui drove the furniture and the founders gradually installed the furniture. The office is available, but a decent conference room is not yet available. So, the meeting place is often located in the nearby Nanhaizi Park - the company has just been established and has a lot of things to discuss, sometimes having to go to the park 10 times a week, but there are a lot of mosquitoes in the summer. At that time, I had to go on a business trip, and my colleagues only took the red eye flight. At the beginning of entrepreneurship, Peng Xiaobo was not familiar with the investment and financing market. But in 2016, during the investment and financing boom, bike sharing platforms such as Mobike and Ofo quickly completed round after round of financing, giving Peng Xiaobo a lot of confidence. "Shared bikes can raise money, rockets can also do it.". 67 million, this is the first financing received by Starry Glory. At that time, CITIC Juxin, who was leading the investment, joked with Peng Xiaobo, "You're such a big leader, carrying such an old bag, you can't afford to spend money recklessly." At that time, commercial aerospace was still in the initial exploration stage, and due to risk considerations, the investment amount was not large. Commercial aerospace is a catfish. At the end of 2018, when Peng Xiaobo decided to start his own business, there were only three or four commercial aerospace companies in China, all of which were in the early stages of research and development. There are many people who oppose my resignation, but there is basically no support. Although in 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Science and Industry for National Defense, and other departments jointly issued a document clearly encouraging private enterprises to develop commercial aerospace, whether peers or outsiders, they are either wait-and-see or skeptical. A space industry practitioner with 10 years of experience told China Youth Daily/China Youth Network reporter, "Many colleagues believe that commercial space is impossible." Almost all global space industries have flourished in national teams, and the United States was the first to open up commercial space. At the beginning of the 21st century, the development of space in the United States came to a standstill, and the government began to encourage the influx of private capital. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) entrusted satellite launches, space station manned and cargo missions to commercial space companies, while providing financial and technical support. NASA is only responsible for deep space exploration missions aimed at scientific research. Space X、 American commercial aerospace companies such as Blue Origin and Boeing were established in the early 21st century. In 2023, the number of global launch vehicles reached 223, with a total of 67 launches by China Aerospace, ranking second in the world. The current demand for rockets and satellites in China is huge and urgent. Industry insiders believe that encouraging the development of commercial aerospace and leveraging private capital to leverage the potential of the aerospace industry can bring a certain "catfish effect" to China's aerospace upstream and downstream industries. Li Zhiming from a commercial satellite company told China Youth Daily/China Youth Network that since the beginning of this year, there have been more options for carrier rockets than in previous years, and commercial rockets are more suitable for commercial satellite companies in terms of launch services and efficiency. Taber Think Tank predicts that from 2023 to 2028, the commercial aerospace industry will enter a golden period of development, and the market size in China alone will reach 2.8 trillion yuan by 2025. Zhao Xin, an ordinary person behind the trillion dollar market who had worked in the electric vehicle industry for two years, joined Science and Technology Aerospace last year. The parents were extremely proud to learn that their son was involved in the production of rockets. Zhao Xin, who is 28 years old, is the youngest member of the avionics team. He never imagined that he would connect with the vast universe in such a way. In order to accomplish this extraordinary task, Zhao Xin often brings technical problems encountered at work to the dining table in the cafeteria and takes them on the starry path back. Even after returning home, he would use the small tools at home to conduct simulation experiments. Xiao Jingnan, who joined Zhongke Aerospace at almost the same time as Zhao Xin, was three years older than him. After entering Zhongke Aerospace, he was amazed by the size of the rocket system and even began to learn the structures and principles of other rocket systems. Rocket is a comprehensive project that involves interlocking links, and Xiao Jingnan is always worried that he may not have done this well, which could slow down the progress of the entire team. In his view, overtime has become the norm for astronauts, and even a tradition inherited from the older generation of astronauts. During the interview, he was still feeling a bit uneasy, "I'm not sure if I'm not working at the moment.". He is responsible for the ground comprehensive design of the Lijian 2 carrier rocket, which is expected to make its first flight next year. "I think I will definitely be very nervous and worried," he told China Youth Daily and China Youth Net reporters. When the rocket is launched, just press the button and it will fly away, no longer under control. If there is a problem, a bright red alarm will flash. On the day of launch, R&D personnel always wear green clothes and socks, praying for a green light all the way. The failure of the "2021 China's Aerospace" white paper revealed that from 2016 to 2021, the Long March series of launch vehicles carried out a total of 207 launches, with a success rate of 96.7%. So, what happens once it fails? How to face failure? Few people can answer this question, and most astronauts have never dealt with launch failures. Peng Xiaobo is one of the few people who has experienced failure, or has he experienced it three times in a row. From 2021 to 2022, after the launch of the "Hyperbola 1 Yao" carrier rocket sounded the horn of China's commercial space program, the same "Hyperbola 1" mission suffered consecutive failures in Yao 2, Yao 5, and Yao 4. On February 1, 2021, Peng Xiaobo experienced his first failure in life when the Hyperbolic One Yao rocket lost control of its flight in the blue sky. He quickly organized his colleagues to collect data and identify issues, and after 28 days, completed the zero review. Peng Xiaobo said calmly, "There will definitely be pressure, but I think these problems should be solvable." Half a year later, the second failure came. At that time, Interstellar Glory was still in the stage of expansion and rented the entire four story office building. Failure did not stop their footsteps. Peng Xiaobo told a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network, "A rocket company, as long as it keeps trying to launch, will sooner or later face failure. Finding the reason and persistently achieving success is actually not a big deal.". On May 13, 2022, at the Jiuquan launch site, Peng Xiaobo confidently hoped for success, but still couldn't achieve it. The third failure dealt a blow to Peng Xiaobo. He suddenly realized, "I'm not as powerful as I originally imagined.". He concluded, "Indeed, we cannot mistake the platform's capabilities for our own.". There was a 0.2mm excess material in the Hyperbola 1 Y4 carrier rocket during this flight mission, which prevented the valve of the rocket body from closing and ultimately caused the rocket to lose control during the separation of the third stage. Sure enough, failure is almost success. Peng Xiaobo did not feel unwilling. When recalling his third failure, his tone remained calm: "Rocket launches must conform to the laws of natural science, and success or failure does not depend on personal likes and dislikes and emotions." He quickly adjusted his state and became the first person on the shooting range to comfort and encourage everyone. After the third launch failure, the company's expansion efforts came to a halt. One is to sort out development ideas, and the other is to reduce personnel and save expenses. Before the third failure, Starry Glory had nearly 600 people, but after structural adjustments, the minimum number of people was only 340. This has brought Peng Xiaobo a rare and complex emotional experience. He has never bid farewell to so many colleagues who have resigned, and he feels that he has not sailed the Star Glory ship well. After three consecutive defeats, on April 7, 2023, the "Hyperbola 1" Yaoliu carrier rocket successfully took off in Jiuquan. Peng Xiaobo's performance remains calm. If this launch still ends in failure, Peng Xiaobo will continue to launch for the sixth and seventh time until the launch is successful. After two years of setbacks, Peng Xiaobo's mentality has been polished to a more peaceful level, and he doesn't pay much attention to these two years
Edit： Responsible editor：
Source：
Special statement: if the pictures and texts reproduced or quoted on this site infringe your legitimate rights and interests, please contact this site, and this site will correct and delete them in time. For copyright issues and website cooperation, please contact through outlook new era email：lwxsd@liaowanghn.com
Economy
Recommended Reading Change it 
Home
