Introduction: 6G communication networks will further integrate satellite communications on the basis of 5G.
At 20:11 Beijing time on July 9, in Xichang, Sichuan, space enthusiasts from all over the country gathered at the Xichang satellite launch site known as the “Xichang Satellite City” were all excited: it was developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.The launch star of China's first global high-throughput broadband satellite system, the Asia-Pacific 6D communication satellite, was successfully launched by the Long March 3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
According to public information, the Asia-Pacific 6D communication satellite was developed by the Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and is China's first Ku-band “high throughput”(HTS, High Throughput Satellite)The first satellite of the “Broadband Satellite Communication System” and can accept the Ku/Ka band for transmission at the same time. For the first time, it is based on the Dongfanghong-4 enhanced satellite platform(DFH-4E platform)The platform was developed using electric propulsion to complete the north-south position protection throughout the life cycle. The final location was set at 134 degrees east longitude, with a launch weight of about 5.55 tons, and a service life of 15 years.
According to experts from the Fifth Aerospace Academy participating in the design of the Asia-Pacific 6D satellite, high-throughput satellites are like space signal transfer stations set up in space. Through radio signal forwarding, terrestrial users are connected to the Internet at terrestrial gateway stations.
The Asia-Pacific 6D satellite has 8 terrestrial gateway stations, which can support an application rate of nearly 100 megabytes. The satellite's communication capacity has reached 50 Gbps. Compared with the 20 Gbps communication capacity of China's first high-throughput satellite, the Zhongxing-16 satellite launched in 2017, it is 1.5 times higher and 10 to 50 times higher than the current 1-10 Gbps communication capacity of traditional conventional communication satellites.
At the same time, unlike the wide-area beam antenna coverage method of traditional radio and television satellites, the Asia-Pacific 6D satellite uses multi-beam antennas with a total of 90 user beams, forming a “honeycomb” coverage of the ground. A single beam capacity can reach 1 Gbps or more, which can provide users with high-quality voice and data communication services, and achieve global coverage on a visual scale.
Looking at it as a whole,The satellite set a new record for the highest communication satellite of its kind in China in terms of payload weight, communication capacity, and huge design level.
The Asia-Pacific 6D communication satellite is China's current civil commercial communication satellite with the largest communication capacity, the largest number of beams, the largest output power, and the most complex design. It represents that China's high-throughput communication satellite development capabilities have reached the international advanced level.
The satellite mainly provides users in the Asia-Pacific region with high-quality, efficient, and economical full-region, all-weather satellite broadband communication services. It can meet the needs of various applications such as maritime communications, aviation airborne communications, land vehicle communications, and fixed satellite broadband Internet access.
In terms of commercial communications, it can provide domestic operators with the construction of superbase stations and high-quality satellite broadband communication services for users such as general aviation, ocean freighters, and scientific research vessels.
In July 2016, the Shenzhen Municipal Government and Aerospace Science and Technology Group held a high-throughput broadband satellite project signing ceremony and the establishment ceremony of Asia Pacific Satellite Broadband Communications (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., marking the official commencement of construction of China's first global high-throughput broadband satellite system.
This high-throughput broadband satellite system has a total investment of over RMB 10 billion. It is proposed to form a powerful satellite network with 4 high-throughput satellites and more than 10 wide-beam satellites. The network includes 200 ocean beams to provide Internet access services in 14 sub-regions around the world. Each sub-region integrates 100 megabytes of broadband resources to support customers to dynamically adjust the bandwidth allocation between regions, and provide reliable, flexible, intelligent and customizable satellite communication solutions for various types of ships and maritime projects around the world.
In this strategic project plan for the development of China's aerospace satellites, the Asia-Pacific 6D communication satellite is the first step in implementing the construction of this high-throughput broadband satellite system. The successful launch of the Asia-Pacific 6D satellite on July 9 marks the development of China's space satellites and has officially entered the era of high-throughput satellites.
Satellite communication is a hard power related to economic development and national security, and America on the other side of the ocean has never given up on its idea of dominating the world in this field.
In January 2015, Musk announced that its SpaceX company plans to launch about 12,000 communications satellites into orbit, of which 1,584 will be deployed in near-Earth orbit 550 km above Earth, and work will begin in 2020. This project was named “Starlink” (Starlink).
Under the leadership of Musk's “Starlink” program, countries around the world have upgraded satellite Internet construction to a national-level strategy, and the global satellite industry has been in full swing in recent years. In this context, in this article, we will focus on analyzing the current situation, development trends, and in-depth analysis of the domestic communications satellite industry, and an in-depth analysis of the well-known Chinese satellite listed company in the Hong Kong stock market - Asia Pacific Satellite (01045.HK).
01 How big is this satellite cake?
An artificial satellite refers to an unmanned spacecraft orbiting the Earth in space orbit. It is mainly divided into scientific satellites, technical test satellites, and application satellites. Among them, applied satellites directly provide services to the national economy and military activities, and are the satellite with the largest number and variety of launches and the widest range of applications.
According to the 20th edition of the Satellite Industry Annual Report issued by the American Satellite Industry Association (SIA) in 2017, as of December 31, 2016, there were 1,459 satellites in orbit worldwide, belonging to 59 countries. The number of satellites in the world has grown rapidly over the past few years, from 994 satellites in orbit in 2012 to 1,459 in 2016.
Among the satellites in orbit, the largest number are commercial satellites, including communication satellites, and Earth observation satellites, accounting for 35% and 19%, respectively. According to the 21st edition of the satellite industry annual report issued by the American Satellite Industry Association (SIA) in 2018, 345 satellites were launched globally in 2017, of which Earth observation satellites accounted for 49%.
According to the upstream and downstream relationships, the satellite industry is divided into four major fields: satellite manufacturing, launch services, satellite services, and ground equipment manufacturing. Compared to satellite manufacturing and launch services, satellite services and ground equipment manufacturing form the main body of the satellite industry.
With the advancement of technology, the increase in market demand, and the increase in the degree of commercialization, satellite application fields continue to be enriched. They all play an important role in the fields of communications, meteorology, remote sensing, broadcasting, navigation, etc., and have also driven the growth rate of the satellite service and ground equipment manufacturing industry to significantly exceed that of the satellite manufacturing and launch service industries, and their share in the entire satellite industry chain continues to rise.
In recent years, due to a slowdown in global economic growth and an increase in the satellite industry base, the revenue growth rate of the global satellite industry has slowed down. According to the 21st edition of the satellite industry annual report issued by the American Satellite Industry Association (SIA) in 2018, the total revenue of the global satellite industry reached 268.6 billion US dollars in 2017, an increase of 3% over the previous year. Among them, launch service revenue was 4.6 billion US dollars, satellite manufacturing revenue was 15.5 billion US dollars, ground equipment manufacturing revenue was 119.8 billion US dollars, and satellite service revenue was 128.7 billion US dollars.
Overall, launch services and satellite manufacturing form the foundation of the satellite industry, but they account for a relatively small share of revenue; satellite services and ground equipment manufacturing are the main revenue earners of the satellite industry, accounting for more than 90% of revenue. The revenue scale of the global satellite industry from 2007 to 2017 is as follows:
Revenue scale of the global satellite industry from 2007 to 2017 (USD 100 million)
02 Overview of industry development
Satellite communication uses a repeater in a satellite as a relay station to achieve communication between two or more Earth stations by reflecting or forwarding radio signals. Satellite communication is an advanced communication method that combines modern communication technology with aerospace technology and uses computers to control it. It is currently the most industrialized application direction of satellite technology and forms the most important component of the satellite industry.
In satellite communication systems, satellites operate in three types of orbits: low orbit, medium orbit, and geostationary orbit. Low-orbit satellites have an orbital altitude range of 500-1,500 km, mid-orbit satellites have an orbital altitude of 10,000-20,000 km, and geostationary satellites have an orbital altitude of 35,786 km.
Since geostationary satellites are stationary relative to the ground and have a large coverage area, the three satellites with a longitude difference of about 120° can cover a global area other than the South and Arctic, so most satellite communication systems currently use geostationary orbit satellites.
A satellite communication system is a communication system with a satellite operating in space orbit as the core facility. It is a space infrastructure. The core of a satellite communication system is the satellite space segment, which mainly includes communication satellites operating in space orbit, and ground measurement, control and monitoring systems that track, telemeasure, and command satellites. The satellite ground segment is dominated by the user main station, including the user terminal, the “land link” connecting the user terminal and the user main station, and an interface matching the user main station and the “land link”.
The satellite communications industry often divides bands above UHF into L (1-2 GHz), S (2-4 GHz), C (4-7 GHz), X (7-12 GHz), Ku (12-18 GHz), and Ka (20-40 GHz) bands. Among them, the L and S bands below 2.5 GHz are mainly used for satellite mobile communication, satellite radio measurement, satellite measurement and control links, etc.; the C and Ku bands are mainly used for satellite fixed service communication and are almost saturated, and the Ka band is being heavily used. In order to meet the increasing demand for frequency orbital resources, the industry has now begun developing higher band resources such as Q (36-46 GHz) and V (46-56 GHz).
Satellite communication has the advantages of strong destruction resistance, wide coverage, long communication distance, rapid and flexible deployment, wide communication frequency bandwidth, high transmission capacity, stable and reliable performance, and no terrain or geographical restrictions, etc., and can achieve wide-area seamless coverage that cannot be achieved by wired telephone networks or terrestrial mobile communication networks.
Therefore, for large regions with low business density, it is more economical to use satellite communication systems than to build terrestrial communication networks. At the same time, for certain types of business and applications, satellite communication systems have certain advantages, such as video broadcasting, Internet access, international (trans-ocean) communication, etc.
At present, satellite communication systems have become an important part of the world's telecommunications structure, providing telephone, data, and video services to countries around the world. Satellite communication technology has been widely used in fields such as international communications, domestic communications, national defense communications, mobile communications, radio and television. It is particularly suitable for remote areas, rural areas, mountainous areas, islands, disaster areas, and areas where land communication is difficult to cover, such as ocean fleets and long-range aircraft.
03 Is 6G the future?
The communications satellite operation industry is a segment of the satellite communications industry and an integral part of the satellite service industry. Communications satellite operators operate and manage communication satellites to provide users with transmission services such as radio and television, communications, video, and data.
Communications satellites are an important part of a country's civil space infrastructure, and satellite communications is a strategic emerging industry in the country. According to the State Council's “Broadband China” Strategy and Implementation Plan” and the “National Civil Space Infrastructure Medium- and Long-Term Development Plan (2015-2025)” of the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the National Defense Administration of Science, Technology, and Industry, communication satellites, as an important component of the country's civil space infrastructure, play a critical role in the implementation of the “Broadband China” strategy and globalization strategy. They are an important part of building China's complete communication network. Satellite communication is a strategic emerging industry in the country.
Satellite communication, terrestrial communication (optical fiber, 5G), etc. are all different communication methods. They jointly satisfy information exchange and transmission between various types of users, provide users with differentiated application services, and play different roles in different application scenarios. Each has their own characteristics and complementary advantages, and is not a complete replacement relationship.
International organizations such as 3GPP are formulating access standards for satellite communication and 5G, using satellite communication as an important means and an integral part of 5G network expansion to meet the diverse business needs of users everywhere and expand the scope of satellite communication services.
As people's dependence on information and communication gradually increases, the ubiquitous nature of satellite communication is becoming more and more prominent, and it plays an important role in building an integrated communication network with seamless global coverage.The future 6G communication network will further integrate satellite communication on the basis of 5G to provide people with truly ubiquitous and global mobile broadband network coverage.
The communication satellite operation industry is a capital-intensive industry, with huge capital investment to form economies of scale and low marginal usage costs. Therefore, usually a communication satellite system is serviced by one operator, which is conducive to providing cheaper and higher quality services to various regions within the system, helps to establish remote private networks for multinational companies or industries, and also helps individual users enjoy satellite communication services.
According to the “SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTINGMARKETS' SURVEY” released by Euroconsult in 2018, by the end of 2017, there were more than 40 major fixed communication satellite operators worldwide. The satellite transponder bandwidth capacity was 902 GHz, the usage capacity was 458 GHz, the utilization rate was 50.76%, providing transmission services to more than 42,000 radio and television channels, with total revenue of US$11.5 billion in 2017.
From 2007 to 2014, the total revenue of the global fixed communication satellite operation industry increased from 8.9 billion US dollars to 12.3 billion US dollars; however, due to the gradual entry of new competitors in the industry, regional expansion of original operators, and increased price competition in some markets such as Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, the total revenue of the industry declined in 2015 and 2016.
As operators continue to adapt to the competitive environment, the fixed communication satellite operation industry gradually improved, and the total revenue of the industry rebounded in 2017. The main development direction of the industry in the future is to reduce unit service costs through higher payloads, lower launch costs, and other technological innovations, which will also drive an increase in the usage of satellite transponders.
According to Euroconsult's forecast, by 2022, the global satellite transponder rental capacity is expected to reach 969.8 GHz, an increase of 111.84% over 2017, with an average compound annual growth rate of 16.20%.