Bezos, the world's richest man, "goes to heaven", is it feelings or business? How far are you from space travel?

Wen/Su Shu

If you want to go to heaven, it's no longer just talk.

recently, British and American tycoons are scrambling to March into the sky. According to the plan, at 9: pm Beijing time on July 2th, Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, crossed the Carmen line and realized his dream in space. Just nine days ago, richard branson, the 71-year-old British billionaire founder of Virgin Galactic, also successfully reached the edge of space in the Virgin Galactic Unity spacecraft. Earlier, elon musk, the founder of Tesla, had been trumpeting his desire to conquer space and declared that he would create a spaceship to take humans to the moon and Mars.

Flying is no longer exclusive to a country's strategic level. Not only abroad, but also domestic private space enterprises have gradually emerged in the space field. Rocket launching and commercial satellite carrying ... the originally mysterious space industry has gradually come to the public in the form of commercialization.

to what extent has domestic private space flight developed? What are the future commercialization models of private aerospace enterprises? Will China be able to send ordinary people into space in the future?

British and American tycoons have "gone into space"

How much does it cost to travel in space?

On June 12th, a mysterious buyer won the seat of the manned spaceship "New Sheppard" for 28 million dollars. Nearly 76 people from 159 countries competed with him for this seat. In less than ten minutes, the auction price soared to 28 million dollars directly.

behind the new Shepard, it was created by Amazon founder Jeff? Bezos founded a commercial space company-Blue Origin, and the journey of the new Shepard will also be the first manned flight of Blue Origin. This time on the new Shepard, and Jeff? Bezos and his younger brother Mark Bezos and the 82-year-old female passenger Wally Fink. According to the blue origin company, the mysterious player could not take the new Sheppard this time because of the itinerary, but this seat will be reserved for the future.

interestingly, not long after Blue Origin bid for the seat of the new Sheppard, Virgin Galactic, another commercial aerospace company, succeeded in grabbing the flight on the evening of July 11th, Beijing time. Richard branson, the 71-year-old founder of Virgin Galactic, a British billionaire, became the first person to start commercial space travel with the launch of the Unity spacecraft.

Apart from Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, the founder and CEO of Tesla, is the most high-profile commercial manned space program.

although the three companies are on the same commercial space track, they are also different. It is understood that Virgin Galactic will send passengers to the boundary line 8km away from the earth, and this boundary line is currently only recognized by some people as the space boundary line.

on the contrary, the blue origin, which has been unusually low-key, insists on sending passengers above the Carmen line, that is, the space boundary line with a height of 1km from the ground. SpaceX's dragon spacecraft belongs to orbital flight. The dragon spacecraft will not only fly around the moon, but also stay in the International Space Station for a period of time, totaling about 1 days. In addition, the ultimate goal that Musk has always insisted on is to send people to Mars.

Space tourism is getting closer and closer. Relevant research reports show that by 225, the space tourism market is expected to reach 1.3 billion US dollars, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.4% during 22-225.

before the successful test flight of Virgin Galactic Unity, Virgin Galactic had sold 7 tickets, each of which cost between $2, and $25,. In addition, Virgin Galactic benefited from the title of "Sky Concept First Share", and its share price rose by 4% in the first four months of listing in 219.

Miao jianquan, CEO of Qiancheng Exploration, a satellite R&D and application service provider, said that the events that British and American rich people "went to heaven" one after another were a good thing for private space enterprises at home and abroad. It was precisely because of the heat of these events that more people were shown the current technical strength and commercialization exploration of private space.

The domestic private space industry that is speeding up

Previously, it caused a wave of hot discussion among commercial space enterprises, or it was in the live broadcast room in Viya.

On April 1st, 22, Viya, the "Queen of Goods", sold a rocket in Taobao's live broadcast room for 4 million yuan. It is understood that more than 8 people took the deposit within 5 minutes after the rocket link was put on the shelves that day. Finally, "Changguang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd." contacted relevant parties in Viya and confirmed the purchase intention.

Viya's rocket with goods this time is backed by an Aerospace Science and Technology Rocket Technology Co., Ltd. established in February 216. According to public information, Aerospace Science and Technology Rocket Technology Co., Ltd. is a mixed-ownership enterprise led by China Aerospace Sanjiang Group and absorbed a lot of social capital, and it is also the first "commercial rocket company" in China. It is understood that Aerospace Science and Technology Rocket Technology Co., Ltd. has successfully completed eight commercial launches in the four years since its establishment.

In fact, long before Viya sold rockets, domestic aerospace enterprises gradually emerged in the professional field.

As far as launch vehicles are concerned, on July 25th, 219, Star Glory, the head player of the commercial rocket company and founded in 216, successfully launched the launch vehicle "Hyperbolic No.1 Yao-Changan Auchan", realizing the first successful orbit of a private launch vehicle in China.

On November 7th, 22, Xinghe Power, which was established less than three years ago, successfully made the first flight of the solid launch vehicle "Ceres-1". It is understood that the recent launch mission of Xinghe Power "Ceres No.1 (Remote 2 and Remote 3)" has also been put on the agenda.

China's aerospace industry has entered the process of commercialization in many fields, and the scale of the aerospace market is accelerating. Enterprise survey data show that there are currently 89, aerospace-related enterprises in China. 219 is the peak period of enterprise registration, with 44, enterprises registered throughout the year; In 22, the registered volume was 15,7, a year-on-year decrease of 64.4%; In the first five months of this year, it registered 68, an increase of 39.1% year-on-year. In addition, nearly half of enterprises have registered capital of more than 1 million.

Liu Baiqi, CEO of Xinghe Power, a commercial launch vehicle company, said, "In fact, the development of private space enterprises is a beneficial supplementary role for the national space strategy. The commercialization of private aerospace is currently showing a trend, and both the enterprise and the capital are relatively optimistic. "

"At present, domestic private space enterprises also need the help of capital. After all, this is an industry that burns money." Wang Xinhe said that for capital, although the domestic private space flight is in its infancy, the future market volume is very large.

how to commercialize?

in 215, the state formally put forward a medium-and long-term development plan for the national civil space infrastructure. Under the guidance of a series of national white papers on space industry, private space enterprises in China have gradually developed.

how to realize the commercialization of aerospace has become a breakthrough for private aerospace enterprises.

"In 22, the country will bring the satellite Internet into the category of" new infrastructure "for the first time, and the satellite Internet construction will rise to a national strategic project, integrating remote sensing engineering and navigation engineering, which will become an important part of China's integrated information system between heaven and earth. It is estimated that by 23, the overall market scale of China satellite Internet will reach 1 billion, and commercial aerospace will play a vital role in the satellite Internet construction." Liu Baiqi said that the business model of Xinghe Power is to provide launch services for satellites. In addition, Xinghe Power Company is actively expanding multi-dimensional commercial fields such as rocket arrow advertising, advertising load in rocket cabin, educational science popularization, and cultural and creative periphery.

Liu Baiqi told China Newsweek that at present, the arrow advertisement of "Ceres No.1 (Yaoyi)" has been commercialized, which is one of the breakthroughs that Xinghe Power has explored on the road of commercialization.

for commercial satellite enterprises, the road to commercialization is relatively clear. Founded in 217, after four years of development, Thousand-Ride Exploration currently has three business lines: spatial information service, product delivery and constellation intelligent operation.

"The application of remote sensing satellites has actually appeared a long time ago, and it is clearly visible and relatively mature in the landing scene and application of remote sensing satellites." Miao Jianquan said that at present, the main service customers of Qiancheng Exploration are the government and enterprises, but the main customer groups are government departments. Qiancheng Exploration can provide users with customized services such as land monitoring, agricultural monitoring, forestry monitoring and urban management based on its self-developed satellites.

In addition, Liu Baiqi said, "Space travel has a huge market prospect in the future, and it is also one of the important directions for the development of commercial space industry. At present, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are the two companies that carry out suborbital commercial space travel in the world, and the price given is about 2,-25, US dollars. With the continuous improvement of technology and spacecraft, it is expected to drop to 3,-5, US dollars in the future, and ordinary people will have the opportunity to travel to space."