Episode 4 - Discussing Chinese Satcom Constellations with Lan Tianyi
Welcome to Episode 4 of the Dongfang Hour. This week, we invite our very first guest to the podcast to discuss satellite constellations, and what a guest!
LAN Tianyi is the CEO of Ultimate Blue Nebula and SpaceKey, two Beijing-based firms focusing on satellite/space industry consulting & research. Having spent several years working inside China’s state-owned space apparatus (largely at CAST and its subsidiaries), Tianyi branched off on his own in 2014, and has since been consulting with many of China’s most successful and dynamic commercial space companies. Today, in addition to his two companies, Tianyi is actively involved in the China Satellite Conference, an annual event in Beijing, as well as Satellite World, a Chinese satellite news publication.
On today’s episode, we discuss communications constellations. This year has seen a significant acceleration in the rollout of western low Earth orbit (LEO) communications constellations, with the most obvious example being Starlink. Less publicly, Chinese constellation projects have made steady progress throughout the year, and while we are unlikely to see any Chinese constellation with hundreds of satellites in orbit by year-end, there is much to discuss about these projects.
Some key takeaways:
The biggest constellation projects in China are Hongyan, Xingyun, and Hongyun, all of which are being developed by state-owned enterprises. Given the business model of broadband constellations (ISP from space), and given the degree of control that the Chinese government exercises over the internet, it is highly likely that the country’s first broadband constellation will be managed by SOEs.
That being said, a number of private companies have entered the fray, with oftentimes rapidly evolving business models. This includes Commsat, Galaxy Space, MinoSpace, and others. These private companies have different focuses, but most aim to address a piece of the constellation puzzle. Commsat wants to mass-manufacture smallsats for large constellations, MinoSpace has a similar plan, with both companies having much “space” in their DNA. Galaxy Space, on the other hand, has a leadership team that comes from a more general tech/telecommunications background, and as such, is working on developing applications related to 5G and IoT.
The private companies and SOEs have found a common ally in local and provincial governments in China. Following the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)’s announcement supporting satellite broadband as a “new infrastructure” in China, several provincial and city governments doubled down on their efforts to bring satellite broadband companies to their jurisdiction. This included Galaxy Space announcing a “superfactory” in Nantong and Commsat announcing factories in Yibin (Sichuan) and Tangshan (Hebei).
China’s constellations are closely linked with other initiatives, such as the Belt & Road Spatial Information Corridor, the “New Infrastructure” projects, etc.
Finally, we also expect constellation projects with highly specific target markets to be more open to private companies—for example, Geely’s plan for a constellation to provide enhanced navigation, implicitly to Geely cars, is seen as less controversial than plans to become an “ISP from space”.
Sources of interest are available on our website.
Thanks for tuning in!
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