Satellite Internet: 6G key technology, the rudiment of domestic industry

5g has been fully commercial, human communication technology once again embarked on a period of rapid development. In the future, with the development of rocket recovery, LEO satellite and 6G technology, science fiction communication seems to be not far away from us. In 2019, the Ministry of industry and information technology established a 6G research group to promote 6G related work. In April of the same year, olu University held the world’s first 6G summit. 6G is expected to achieve further technical indicators: air port delay is less than 0.1ms, network depth coverage rate reaches 100%, millimeter level perception positioning, unit power consumption is greatly reduced, transmission bandwidth will reach TB level, and connection device density will reach hundreds per cubic meter. On April 20, 2020, the national development and Reform Commission defined the scope of "new infrastructure" for the first time, and brought the satellite Internet into the category of communication network infrastructure. At present, many domestic enterprises have begun to actively layout the satellite Internet industry.


In this issue, we recommend the report "5g + era, star chain plan and 6G shine together" of Kaiyuan securities to reveal the layout and development of 6G and satellite Internet.


01. Communication technology: a great change every ten years


Mobile communication technology promotes the rapid development of information technology industry, improves people’s living standards, and promotes the development and prosperity of society. Since the 1980s, there has been a new revolution in mobile communication technology every decade.


The evolution of mobile communication technology from 1g to 5g


1g, the first generation mobile communication technology, is a cellular wireless telephone system based on analog technology. Originated in the 1980s, completed in the 1990s, mainly using analog modulation technology and frequency division multiple access (FDMA) technology, the main disadvantages of this technology are low spectrum utilization, signaling interference voice services.


In 1g era, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) is a basic multiple access mode. FDMA divides channels by carrier frequency, each channel occupies a carrier frequency, and the adjacent carrier frequencies should meet the requirements of transmission bandwidth. In analog mobile communication, if division multiple access is the most commonly used multiple access mode, and the interval between each carrier frequency is 30kHz or 25kHz. In FDMA technology, different users occupy different frequency bands, thus avoiding mutual interference and realizing differentiation.


2G is the second generation mobile communication technology, mainly using digital time division multiple access (TDMA) and code division multiple access (CDMA) technology. Under 2G technology, information such as e-mail and software cannot be transmitted directly; It only has the technical specifications of mobile phone communication such as call, time and date transmission. However, SMS (short message service) can be implemented in some 2G specifications.


The second generation digital wireless standards for mobile communication mainly include GSM in Europe and is-95cdma launched by Qualcomm in the United States. GSM is mainly used in China, and CDMA is mainly used in the United States and South Korea.


3G is the third generation of mobile communication technology, its most basic feature is intelligent signal processing technology. Intelligent signal processing unit will become the basic function module, supporting voice and multimedia data communication. It can provide a variety of broadband information services, such as high-speed data, slow image and TV image, which can not be provided by the previous two generations of products.


The communication standard of 3G system includes WCDMA, CDMA2000 and TD-SCDMA. In China, China Mobile adopts TD-SCDMA, China Telecom adopts CDMA2000 and China Unicom adopts WCDMA.


3 G communication standard


4G is the fourth generation mobile communication technology, mainly based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) as the technical core. 4G technology is a combination of 3G and WLAN, and can transmit high-quality video images, and the image transmission quality is comparable to that of HDTV.


Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a high-speed transmission technology in wireless environment. OFDM technology is characterized by highly scalable network structure, good anti noise performance and anti multi-channel interference ability. It can provide higher quality (high speed, low delay) service and better performance price ratio of wireless data technology, and can provide a better solution for 4G wireless network.


5g is the latest generation of cellular mobile communication technology. 5g is not an independent and brand-new wireless access technology, but a general term for the technology evolution of existing wireless access technology and the integrated solutions of some new complementary wireless access technologies.


There are three key technologies in the 5g mobile communication


02. Satellite Internet, new technology of 5g


Satellite Internet is a kind of Internet based on satellite communication, which can realize multi earth station communication. Satellite Internet is a new network based on satellite communication technology, which provides broadband Internet access and other communication services to ground and air terminals by launching a specific number of satellites to form a large-scale network.


Principle of satellite communication


There are three stages in the development of Satellite Internet


1. In the competition stage with ground communication network, it provides voice, low-speed data, Internet of things and other services. With the rapid development of ground communication system, satellite communication system is gradually at a disadvantage in terms of communication quality and tariff price, and is defeated in the competition.


2. In the stage of ground communication network supplement, new iridium, global satellite and orbital communication company are the representatives to supplement and extend the ground communication system.


3. In the stage of integration with ground communication network, companies such as oneweb and SpaceX are leading the construction of new satellite Internet constellation. The satellite working frequency band is gradually improved, and the construction of Satellite Internet is gradually stepping into the era of broadband Internet.


Development stage of Satellite Internet


According to the orbit height, satellites are mainly divided into three categories: low orbit, medium orbit and high orbit. Among them, LEO satellite has the advantages of small transmission delay, low link loss and flexible launch, which is the mainstream way to realize Satellite Internet service.


Satellite classification


Specifically, LEO satellite system has the following two advantages:


1. It can realize seamless link service of global Internet. The traditional high orbit synchronous orbit satellite has high construction cost, communication blind area, extended time and limited bandwidth, which can not meet the capacity demand of global massive interconnection. In contrast, LEO satellite system has lower transmission delay, higher reliability, higher loss and 29.5db lower orbit, which can realize seamless global Internet link service.


Advantages of LEO satellites


2. The core application scenarios of LEO satellite communication include remote area communication, ocean operation and scientific research broadband, aviation broadband and disaster emergency communication. Among them, the application market in remote areas mainly includes satellite telephone, Internet TV and satellite broadband; Marine operation and scientific research application market includes satellite positioning and maritime satellite telephone; The aviation application market is mainly airborne WiFi; Disaster recovery application market includes emergency call, data protection and recovery and remote disaster recovery system.


Core application scenarios of LEO satellite communication


In recent years, under the guidance of oneweb, SpaceX and other companies, the satellite Internet industry has entered a period of rapid development. Since 2014, China has introduced a series of measures to actively promote the development of satellite application industry and commercial satellite. In particular, the national development and Reform Commission defined the scope of "new infrastructure" for the first time on April 20, 2020, including information infrastructure, integration infrastructure and innovation infrastructure. Among them, information infrastructure mainly refers to the infrastructure based on the evolution of new generation information technology, including 5g, Internet of things, industrial Internet and satellite Internet. Satellite Internet is included in the category of communication network infrastructure for the first time at the national level.


China’s satellite Internet industry policy


Many domestic enterprises have begun to actively layout the satellite Internet industry“ During the 13th Five Year Plan period, two major central enterprises, mainly China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and China Aerospace Science and Engineering Corporation, respectively proposed the "Hongyun constellation" and "Hongyun project" LEO Satellite Internet plans, and launched test satellites. Among them, "Hongyan" constellation is the first global LEO satellite mobile communication and space Internet system in China, which can realize the combination of broadband and narrowband in the world and provide users with real-time two-way communication.


The "Hongyun project" constellation is dedicated to meeting the high-speed access requirements of the global mobile Internet. It is composed of 156 LEO satellites, and the maximum support rate of each satellite is 4gbps. At present, many domestic enterprises have begun to actively layout the satellite Internet industry. With the gradual start of the plan, China’s satellite Internet industry is expected to usher in rapid development.


The satellite Internet industry chain is divided into four parts: satellite manufacturing, satellite launching, ground equipment, satellite operation and service. Among them, satellite manufacturing is divided into satellite platform and satellite payload; Satellite launching includes rocket manufacturing and launching services; The ground equipment includes fixed ground station, mobile station and user terminal; Satellite operation and service include satellite mobile communication service, broadband broadcasting service and satellite fixed service. According to the calculation of CCID think tank, the overall market scale of China’s satellite Internet is expected to reach 100 billion by 2030.


Industry chain of Satellite Internet


It is expected that China’s LEO Satellite Internet satellite manufacturing will usher in the investment peak in 2023. 2020 is the first year of Satellite Internet. According to the data of future think tanks, it is estimated that the investment scale of China’s LEO Satellite Internet satellite manufacturing will reach a peak around 2023.


The investment scale of China’s LEO Satellite Internet satellite manufacturing is expected to reach a peak in 2023


According to the data of China’s commercial aerospace industry investment report in 2018, China is expected to launch about 3100 commercial satellites by 2025, with a single satellite manufacturing cost of US $4.29 million, while the single satellite manufacturing costs of Starlink and Amazon are only US $500000 and US $1 million. In contrast, there is still room for further optimization of China’s satellite manufacturing costs. In the future, satellite manufacturing enterprises are expected to improve their gross profit margin and competitiveness, or will continue to benefit.


Cost reduction can start from the following four parts:


Rocket recovery technology. Rocket recovery technology refers to the technology of recovery and reuse after rocket launch, which can realize the recovery and utilization of resources, improve the reuse rate of rocket and reduce the cost. According to SpaceX’s official website, the quotation for the first launch of its Falcon 9 rocket was US $61.98 million, while the quotation for the 13th launch was only US $2.88 million, which was 4.65% of the first quotation, greatly reducing the launch cost.


"One arrow, many stars.". Satellite launch mainly includes rocket manufacturing and launch services. Rocket manufacturing includes propulsion system, rocket body manufacturing, telemetry system, engine manufacturing, guidance and control system, safety self destruction system and other components; Launch services include rocket control system, escape system, launch and telemetry system and launch site construction. In recent years, China’s rocket launch technology has achieved a significant breakthrough, "one rocket with multiple satellites", rocket recycling and other technologies directly promote the reduction of launch costs.


"Integration of heaven and earth + business operation" new mode“ During the 13th Five Year Plan period, the Rockets developed by China’s launch vehicle technology research institute have successively provided international commercial launch services for Laos, Belarus and other countries. In 2015, in the Laos No.1 radio and communication satellite project, the rocket academy pioneered a new mode of "space and sky integration + commercial operation", which expanded the new ideas of international commercial launch market and enhanced the international competitiveness of long march series launch vehicles.


Operation service is the highest proportion link in the value chain of satellite industry, and communication satellite operation is an important component. With the progress of technology, the growth of market demand and the improvement of commercialization, satellites play an important role in communication, meteorology, remote sensing, broadcasting, navigation and other fields, and their application fields are constantly enriched.


According to the statistics of American satellite industry association, the total revenue of global satellite industry in 2018 was 277.4 billion US dollars, up 3.3% year on year; The revenue from satellite services reached 126.5 billion US dollars, accounting for 45.6% of the revenue of the satellite industry. Among them, communication satellite operation is an important part of satellite service industry, including satellite broadcasting, satellite fixed, and satellite mobile services.


The proportion of satellite operation and service is the highest


The beidou-3 system has been fully completed, pushing the industry to a new level. In July 2020, the beidou-3 global satellite navigation system will be officially opened, and China will become the third country in the world to independently own the global satellite navigation system. With the full completion of the system, China’s satellite navigation and location-based service industry will enter a long-term stable growth stage. According to the white paper on the development of China’s satellite navigation and location-based service industry 2020 issued by China satellite navigation and positioning Association, the total output value of China’s satellite navigation and location-based service industry will reach 345 billion yuan in 2019, In the future, it is expected to form a new market of space-time information services with a scale of several trillion.


At present, the country is actively promoting the "new infrastructure" development strategy, and the application of Beidou precision space-time technology is an important grasp for the new infrastructure construction to move towards digitization and intelligence, and to realize the upgrading and transformation, which will become an important force to promote the development of satellite navigation and location-based service industry.


The Beidou global satellite navigation system has been fully built and its performance has been further improved


03. Star chain program


Starlink project is a project launched by SpaceX in 2015 to provide high-speed and fast satellite network communication for global users. At present, 1205 "Starlink" satellites have been launched. In 2015, SpaceX company proposed Starlink plan, which uses a large number of Leo high-throughput satellites to form constellation to provide high-speed network communication for global users. According to SpaceX’s official website, on the morning of March 4, 2021 EST, SpaceX put a new batch of 60 Starlink Internet satellites into orbit, bringing the total number of Starlink satellites launched to 1205.


At present, 1205 satellite links have been launched


The Starlink has three advantages: low delay, easy to set up and taking into account remote areas


Starlink realizes global networking in three steps, with a total launch of about 1.2. Ten thousand satellites. The Starlink program is divided into three steps:


1. 1600 low earth orbit satellites were launched to achieve initial coverage, with 32 orbits and 50 satellites in each orbit;


2. A total of 2825 satellites were launched in four groups to realize global networking. The number of orbits and inclination angles of each group are different;


3. 7518 satellites were launched to form LEO constellation. The first two steps are in the traditional Ka and Ku band, and the third step is in the V band from 40GHz to 75ghz.