At 21:50 on October 10, 2024, the Long March 3B carrier rocket successfully placed the satellite Internet high-orbit satellite 03 into the predetermined orbit at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The successful launch of satellite Internet high-orbit satellite 03 marks the completion of the launch of three high-orbit satellites. High-orbit satellites undertake tasks such as narrowband communication services and signal relay, and are an important part of the satellite Internet constellation. Prior to this, the high-orbit satellite 01 and the high-orbit satellite 02 had successfully entered orbit. (At 21:03 on February 29, 2024, the satellite Internet high-orbit satellite 01 was successfully launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on the Long March 3B carrier rocket. At 21:14 on August 1, 2024, the satellite Internet high-orbit satellite 02 The satellite was successfully launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center aboard the Long March 3B carrier rocket.) The successful launch of the three high-orbit satellites is of great significance to the successful implementation of the constellation networking plan. It marks significant progress in the satellite Internet constellation networking, and is expected to accelerate the networking in the future.
High-orbit satellites 01, 02, and 03 are all developed by the Fifth Academy of the Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. In 2022, StarNet released the 01/02 satellite winning announcement. According to the winning announcement, the winning bid results for Communication Satellite 01: the first winning bidder is the China Academy of Space Technology, the second winning bidder is the Shanghai Microsatellite Engineering Center and the 54th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation; the winning bid results for Communication Satellite 02: the first winning bidder is the China Academy of Space Technology, the second winning bidder is the Shanghai Microsatellite Engineering Center, and the third winning bidder is Galaxy Aerospace.
In 2023, the main launch missions of the Star Network will be test satellites. (At 3:24 on December 6, 2023, the first satellite Internet technology test satellite was successfully launched on the Jielong-3 carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. At 18:00 on November 23, 2023, the second satellite Internet technology test satellite was successfully launched on the Long March 2D carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. July 9, 2023 19:00 The third satellite Internet technology test satellite was successfully launched aboard the Long March 2C carrier rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Unlike the high-orbit satellites 01, 02, and 03, these test satellites have not been officially named. The high-orbit satellites 01, 02, and 03 have begun to have their own official names, indicating that the high-orbit three-star satellites are different from the previous test stars. Establishing an Internet constellation is far more difficult than launching a test satellite, and requires a large amount of initial construction investment. Only then can we gain demand and benefits by promoting the terminal application market.
In 2020, China applied to the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) for the “GW Constellation” plan for 12,992 satellites and related frequency bands, and established China Satellite Network Group Co., Ltd. in April 2021. Applications for satellite frequency and orbital resources must be filed with the ITU on a “first come, first served” basis. If the launch mission cannot be completed within the specified time, the spectrum rights of the declared constellation will be reduced proportionally based on the actual number of launches. StarNet has been established for more than three years, and it needs to make some major progress. Moreover, Yuan Xin has already released the first network star on August 6, and the second network star is about to be launched. Although Yuan Xin’s technical difficulty is lower than that of Star Network, Yuan Xin’s network will also put some pressure on Star Network. After all, it has been established for more than three years. In the short term, we need to accelerate the networking plan, one is to tackle technical problems, and the other is to build the supply chain system. On August 28, 2023, StarNet has established China StarNet Yilian Supply Chain Co., Ltd., and the construction of the supply chain system has pressed the accelerator button. Coupled with the recently established commercial rocket company (Hot Spot Analysis | Let’s briefly talk about the newly established commercial rocket company of the Aerospace Technology Group) and the commercial satellite company (Hot Spot Analysis | Let’s briefly talk about the newly established commercial satellite company of the Aerospace Technology Group), the development and production progress of rockets and satellites will definitely change. In addition, at the end of 2026 or 2027, the main products of my country’s private rocket companies will also have a phase of increasing volume. The two workstations of the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site have also been completed. If both launches are completed this year and regular launches are achieved next year, there will be relatively good news in terms of workstations, rockets, and satellites. There may also be some major breakthroughs in the progress of my country’s satellite Internet network.
