Qianfan constellation: the star sea of future communication of China's satellite Internet
2024-09-04
In early August, the Qianfan Polar Orbiter 01 satellite was successfully launched by a Long March 6 rocket. In recent years, under the influence of multiple factors, the LEO satellite Internet industry has entered a period of rapid development. It is not too late for China to launch the LEO satellite Internet constellation planning. During the "13th Five Year Plan" period, the central enterprises led by aerospace science and technology and aerospace science and industry respectively proposed their own satellite Internet constellation plans. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation plans to build a constellation of 324 low Earth orbit satellites called the Hongyan constellation. China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation plans to carry out the Rainbow Cloud Project for a global network of 156 satellites. Both companies launched their first experimental star in December 2018. In April 2020, China included satellite Internet into the category of "new infrastructure" for the first time, and on April 26, 2021, China Satellite Network Group Co., Ltd. was established, which is responsible for overall planning the development of China's satellite Internet field. Its establishment is a milestone in China's satellite communications and satellite application industry. As of today, China has applied to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for a total of 51300 low Earth orbit satellites. There are three constellation plans with a quantity exceeding 10000. The GW constellation of China Star Network plans to launch a total of 12992 satellites, including 6080 GW-A59 sub constellations, distributed in extremely low orbits of 500-600 kilometers; There are 6912 sub constellations of GW-A2, distributed in a low Earth orbit of 1145 kilometers. On July 9, 2023, the Long March 2C carrier rocket successfully launched the first satellite Internet technology test satellite into the scheduled orbit. Then, on November 23 and December 6, China completed the launch of two satellite Internet technology test satellites. It is expected that the GW constellation will begin mass launches this year and complete 10% of satellite launches before 2030. After 2030, the average annual number of launches will reach 1800. The "Qianfan Constellation", also known as the "G60 Constellation", is led by Shanghai Yuanxin, which was established in 2018. The first two experimental satellites were launched as early as November 2019, and five experimental satellites have been launched so far. The 18 satellites launched this time are the first batch of networked satellites. As a project strongly supported by the Shanghai Municipal Government, the Qianfan Constellation is expected to complete the launch of 108 satellites this year; By the end of 2025, 648 launches will be completed to provide regional network coverage; By the end of 2027, the first phase of construction with a total of 1296 satellites will be completed, providing global network coverage; By the end of 2030, the Internet networking of more than 15000 LEO satellites will be completed. The constellation of Honghu is led by Hongqing Technology, a subsidiary of Blue Arrow Aerospace, established in 2017. On May 24, 2024, Hongqing Technology submitted a frequency orbit application to the International Telecommunication Union to launch a total of 10000 satellites on 160 orbital planes. In addition to the above, China is also planning its own Internet satellite constellation projects, including Galaxy Aerospace and Guodian High tech. Although there is still a certain gap between the construction progress of China's LEO satellite Internet and the world's advanced level, there is a trend of competition and prosperity. The reason why Internet satellites have gained such worldwide attention lies in the fact that the practice of the star chain plan has proved the economic feasibility of the giant constellation. The LEO satellite constellation is expected to become a new generation of global information infrastructure, and its possessor will gain a monopoly position. Low Earth orbit satellites refer to satellites that orbit between approximately 300 kilometers and 2000 kilometers above the Earth's surface. These satellites are very suitable for the development of satellite Internet services because of their low orbital height, small transmission delay, low link loss and other characteristics. Roughly estimated, with a minimum safe distance of 50 kilometers between satellites in the same layer and across layers, there are only a maximum of 35 orbital shells, which can accommodate a total of 175000 satellites. According to other algorithms that consider spectrum allocation, it can only accommodate a maximum of 60000 satellites. Before the Starlink project, such a number meant unlimited availability of resources. However, since the implementation of the Starlink program, it has achieved a launch volume of over 6000 within just 5 years, and its ultimate goal is 42000. In order to realize the transformation of 6G communication from traditional ground access to all-around and multi-dimensional access of space, space and sea in 2030, the network architecture needs to support a variety of space-based, space-based and ground-based access modes, which must also be supported by LEO satellite Internet to provide a broader coverage and higher communication reliability. At that time, people will be able to connect to the Internet when they die in planes, ships, and wilderness, and become online forever. Large low Earth orbit constellations will become a beneficial supplement and enhancement to ground mobile communication networks. The former mainly serves dispersed customers with large distribution areas but low demand, while partially supplementing the latter's services. The latter is the absolute backbone of the communication system. In order to be independent in China's communication field and consider the development channel of related industries, we need to move forward bravely, develop our own Internet constellation and seize the spectrum resources of LEO satellites. (New Society)
Edit：Xiong Dafei Responsible editor：Li Xiang
Source：XinHuaNet
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