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In April, Wuhan is full of sunshine with mild breeze. In this beautiful season with bountiful of greens and bird singing, CASIC launches a new company.
Unlike other companies of CASIC that are devoted to missile manufacturing, this newborn company will be committed to the commercial space industry, and it will become a space engineering industry company that integrates R&D, manufacturing and commercial financing. It is CASIC Space Engineering Headquarters.
CASIC Space Engineering Headquarters is a new enterprise but not a rookie in the commercial space industry.
CASIC Space Engineering Headquarters is born in the tide of commercial space industry, and it is a new enterprise but not a green hand in the commercial space flight industry.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, CASIC is actively planning its route and is dedicated in developing the space industry by making use of commercial modes. Then Space Technology Research and Development Center was founded by the Second Institute of the 2ed Academy of CASIC in 2011, and it made use of technical advantages of missile technology headquarters to develop space technology. Space Technology Research and Development Center was the predecessor of CASIC Space Engineering Headquarters.
Then Space Technology Research and Development Center kept growing constantly. In June 2014, it was upgraded to Space Engineering Overall Design Department, and in May 2015, it became CASIC Space Engineering Headquarters. Space Technology Research and Development Center took only 4 years to become a headquarters that steers the development of space engineering.
In December 2017, Space Engineering Headquarters was registered and began operation as an independent legal person, making the company in the system get closer to the market.
“After technology accumulation for 6 years, Space Engineering Headquarters has mastered complete satellite comprehensive design and research and development capabilities, and it has assembled a competitive talent team in core disciplines including structure and thermal control. Currently, most technical personnel of the company have participated in Tiankun-1, Hongyun Project and other pivotal missions, and they are very experienced.” said Lyu Dongming, the Director of Space Engineering Headquarters.
Developing commercial space and taking different paths
In contrast to the key national space projects undertaken by the main force in the space industry, Space Engineering Headquarters takes a different path and is committed to commercial space, space safety, manned space flight and etc.
In the commercial space industry, Space Engineering Headquarters is forging a low-cost and highly valuable commercial space product and application service system (i.e. Hongyun Project) featuring low-orbit broadband mobile communications satellite, remote sensing satellite and etc.
Hongyun Project first puts forward the low-orbit broadband Internet access system based on small satellites in China and features integration of communications, navigation and remote sensing, global coverage, and autonomous system control with extremely low-latency and ultra-high frequency reuse to enable global coverage. “Currently, half of the population of the world still has no access to the Internet, and the information gaps among regions are large. Hongyun Project will to a wide extent change the way of social life and form a complete industry ecology chain,” said Lyu.
Space Engineering Headquarters will also exert efforts in developing game-changing space technologies like low-cost manned flight technologies to promote industrial development. Currently, Space Engineering Headquarters is researching and developing flexible reusable shuttle vehicles. The coming of flexible reusable shuttle vehicles will promote the commercialization of manned space flight, and it is of pivotal significance to develop space economy such as space tourism, space breeding and etc.
Micro-nano satellites is also one of the key development direction of Space Engineering Headquarters. According to Lyu, replacing large satellites with constellation of small satellites not only reduces the cost of satellites, but also has the advantages of rapid deployment and customized services.
Space Engineering Headquarters belongs to CASIC, but it is a socialized "general department".
Gao Hongwei, the Secretary of Party Committee of CASIC and the Chairman of CASIC, once elaborated the concept of CASIC’s commercial aerospace on multiple occasions. To develop commercial aerospace, it is necessary to gather collaborative effort and continue to break through the “shackle” of traditional space, building CASIC into the one “mobilizing the wits of whole society in the development of overall design institute, overall design department and final assembly plant”. It is also the core development concept of Space Engineering Headquarters.
“We will stick to ‘taking lead and success and development comes first’ as the principle, and lead and cooperate with other enterprises in CASIC, team up with and lead domestic and international partners in building a united front and forging industrial ecosphere,” said Lyu.
Besides pursuing innovation in core technologies, Space Engineering Headquarters also cooperates with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and key universities in China in innovation, and it is devoted to obtain diversified technology resources and realize hierarchical technology application and build a technological innovation system that features the integration of original innovation and re-innovation.
As a new financing mode, “Crowdfunding” provides support to establish the commercial mode of the Space Engineering Headquarter. “We will not only use the state appropriation but also build a Consortium with all kinds of capitals and listed companies in building the ‘space + finance’ industrial chain and ecosphere,” said Lyu.
Space Engineering Headquarters also has its own thinking on managing innovation. On the one hand, it will actively explore the use of Internet mindset in developing the commercial space flight; on the other hand, it will make use of the cost control and market development experiences of private enterprises to form a new pattern of coordinated development in military and civil industries and commerce.
The blueprint has laid out a clear path ahead, which is waiting for the young Space Engineering Headquarters to explore. “We will strive to build a leading space industry company in the world and contribute to make China a space power.” said Lyu. (Reported by Wei Jinghua)
