Satellite application refers to the application of the results of satellite technology and the space resources it has developed in economic construction, national security, scientific and technological development, and social progress. Satellite applications are part of the entire satellite industry chain.
According to the service objects, satellite applications can be divided into military and civilian applications; according to technical fields and service methods, satellite applications currently mainly include satellite communications, satellite navigation, and satellite remote sensing.
1. Introduction to the satellite application industry: The upstream satellite network layout drives the development of the downstream application industry
The satellite application industry is China’s national strategic high-tech industry. The development and production of applied satellites have formed a series, and it is changing from a test application type to a business service type. Satellite applications have become an important support for economic construction, social development, and government decision-making.
After years of development, China has formed a very complete satellite industry chain. In the upstream field of satellite applications, China’s satellite manufacturing and satellite launches are monopolized by a few companies. Satellite manufacturing includes China Academy of Space Technology, Shanghai Institute of Aerospace Technology, and China Satellite; satellite launch includes China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, Aerospace Electronics, and Aerospace Power. There are many satellite ground equipment companies, including: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, China Satellite, Beidouxingtong, Huali Chuangtong, Southern Surveying and Mapping, etc.
In the downstream field of satellite applications, in recent years, relevant Chinese departments have strongly supported the acceleration of the development of the satellite application industry centered on satellite communications and broadcasting, satellite navigation, and satellite remote sensing applications, and the establishment of complete satellite operation services, ground equipment and user terminal manufacturing, and system integration And the information integrated service industry chain, to promote the satellite application industry to better serve the economic and social development.
2. Analysis of the status quo of global satellite industry development: satellite communications applications are implemented early and large in scale
——Industry scale: the overall scale growth rate declines
Since the 21st century, the global satellite and application industries have developed rapidly, showing a sustained and rapid growth trend. According to statistics from the Satellite Industry Association (SIA), the global aerospace industry was worth US$366 billion in 2019, an increase of 1.7% over the previous year. Among them, the total revenue of the satellite industry was US$271 billion, and the total revenue of the satellite industry accounted for 74% of the global aerospace industry. The importance of its status is self-evident.
From 2013 to 2018, the revenue of the global satellite industry continued to grow year by year. In 2018, the global satellite industry revenue was US$277.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%. From the perspective of growth rate, the revenue growth rate of the global satellite industry declined rapidly from 2013 to 2015, and the revenue growth rate has stabilized at around 3% from 2015 to 2018. In 2019, affected by the decline in the revenue of the satellite service industry and the satellite manufacturing industry, the global satellite industry revenue fell slightly year-on-year, with revenue of US$271 billion.
2) Revenue structure of the global satellite industry: ground equipment and satellite services lead the market segment
At present, the main income of the global satellite industry still comes from satellite services and ground equipment manufacturing. Among them, ground equipment, revenue was 130.3 billion US dollars, accounting for 48.13%; followed by satellite service revenue of 123 billion US dollars, accounting for 45.44%; satellite manufacturing revenue reached 12.5 billion US dollars, accounting for 4.62%, still ranked Third; and satellite launch services are still in the bottom, with annual revenue of only 4.9 billion US dollars, accounting for 1.81%.
3) Revenue composition of the global satellite service industry: Satellite communications are the most widely used
From 2012 to 2017, the revenue of the global satellite service industry has increased year by year, and the growth rate has shown a downward trend. From 2018 to 2019, the revenue of the satellite service industry experienced a continuous decline. In 2019, the revenue scale was surpassed by the ground equipment manufacturing industry. The total revenue was US$123 billion, a decrease of 2.8% from 2018.
From the perspective of the global satellite service business income composition, it mainly comes from satellite TV live broadcast and satellite fixed communication. The combined income of the two accounts for nearly 90% of the satellite service industry income. Among them, the revenue from satellite TV live broadcasting was US$92 billion, a decrease of 2% from the previous year; the revenue from satellite broadcasting was US$6.2 billion, an increase of 7% from the previous year; the revenue from satellite fixed communications business was US$17.7 billion, a decrease of 1% from the previous year; Satellite mobile communications revenue was US$2 billion, a decrease of 51% over the previous year.
Driven by technological innovation, both satellite broadband revenue and satellite remote sensing revenue showed double-digit growth: satellite broadband revenue increased by 19% to US$2.8 billion, and satellite remote sensing revenue increased by 11% to US$2.3 billion.
3. Market analysis of China’s satellite navigation industry: Beidou system is fully completed, and the industry is accelerating
——Industry development: Completion of Beidou, navigation system covering the world
The satellite navigation system is a “national weapon” related to a country’s military security. At that time, Western countries imposed severe technical blockades on China in almost all high-tech fields. For example, in the field of high-thrust electric vibration test equipment, before the 1980s, foreign countries imposed a ban on vibrating platforms with a thrust of more than 1 ton in China. After the 1990s, it was changed to a ban on vibration platforms with a thrust of more than 5 tons, and then it was changed to an embargo. Equipment over 9 tons. It is conceivable that the development of China’s Beidou navigation system has gone through hardships.
At present, in addition to China’s Beidou satellite navigation system, global navigation systems built around the world include the United States GPS system, the Russian GLONASS satellite navigation system (GLONASS) and the European Galileo system (Galileo). The development paths of the four major systems are different, and each has its own merits.
The construction of China’s Beidou satellite navigation system follows the development concept of “active first, passive second” and “regional first, global second”. In the late 20th century, China began to explore the development path of satellite navigation systems suitable for national conditions, and gradually formed three steps. Follow the development strategy: At the end of 2000, the Beidou No. 1 system was built to provide services to China; at the end of 2012, the Beidou No. 2 system was built to provide services to the Asia-Pacific region; in 2020, the Beidou global system was built to provide services to the world. Before 2035, a more ubiquitous, more integrated, and smarter integrated space-time system will be built and improved.
2) Market scale: the total output value of satellite navigation is still growing rapidly
With the continuous expansion of the application field of China’s satellite navigation system, the satellite navigation industry has formed a relatively complete industrial system, the performance of navigation products and services has been continuously improved, the scope of application has continued to expand, and the market scale has grown rapidly.
In recent years, in addition to traditional applications such as surveying and mapping and data collection, high-precision satellite navigation and positioning technology has been applied and expanded in the Internet of Things, safety monitoring, autonomous driving, and the Belt and Road Initiative.
With the continuous development of emerging industries, high-precision satellite navigation and positioning technology, as one of the key technologies of the Internet of Things, will be further integrated and deepened with big data and artificial intelligence.
Since 2011, the total output value of China’s satellite navigation and location service industry has grown rapidly. According to the “2020 China Satellite Navigation and Location Service Industry Development White Paper” released by the China Satellite Navigation Association, the overall output value of China’s satellite navigation and location service industry in 2019 reached 345 billion yuan, an increase of 14.4% over 2018.
3) Industry composition: core industries and related derivative industries are simultaneously improving
Specifically, China’s satellite navigation and location service industries are mainly composed of core industries directly related to them and related derivative industries.
In 2019, the core output value of industries directly related to the research and development and application of satellite navigation technology was 116.6 billion yuan, accounting for 33.8% of the total output value. Although affected by multiple objective factors, the growth rate of core output value has slowed down significantly, but with the deepening of the application of “Beidou+” and “+Beidou”, the associated output value driven by satellite navigation continues to grow at a relatively high rate, reaching 2,284 100 million yuan, which strongly supported the further improvement of the overall economic benefits of the industry.
4) Terminal equipment: 5G commercialization brings new growth stimulus points
In terms of terminal equipment, in 2019, the deployment of the core constellation of the Beidou-3 global system was completed. According to data from the white paper, as of the end of 2019, the sales of China-made Beidou compatible chips and modules have exceeded 100 million, and the total sales of China’s satellite navigation and positioning terminal products have exceeded 460 million, of which the sales of smartphones with satellite navigation and positioning functions reached 3.72 100 million units, including 359 million 4G mobile phones and 13.769 million 5G mobile phones.
4. Market analysis of China’s satellite communications industry: the start of the construction of “Skynet and Earthnet”
——Industry scale: the scale of the satellite communications market continues to increase
The satellite communications industry plays an important role in national defense technology, social management, and people’s lives. It is a strategic choice for developed countries to maintain national security, improve corporate operating efficiency, improve people’s livelihood, and seize the commanding heights of economic and technological competition. China has issued a number of policies and measures to encourage the promotion of large-scale applications, commercial services and international expansion of satellites in various industries, and the industry is facing major development opportunities.
Research data shows that in 2019, the scale of China’s satellite communications market was about 68.2 billion yuan, and it is expected that in 2020, the national satellite communications industry market would reach 72.3 billion yuan.
2) Corporate competition pattern: China satellite communications’ leading position is firmly established
China’s satellite communications service is a highly regulated industry, and it is necessary to obtain an operating license from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to carry out related business activities. At present, only China Satellite Communications, China Telecom, and China Communications and Communications Information Center have licenses for the first category of satellite communications services; China has only China Satellite Communications, China Telecom, and CITIC that have licenses for the lease and sale of category two satellite transponders. Digital Media Network Co., Ltd. Among them, China Satellite Communications, as a subsidiary of aerospace science and technology, is the only satellite communications operating company in China that owns communications satellite resources and is autonomously controllable, and has a solid leading position in the industry.
3) Future planning electronics: the construction of an integrated information network of world and earth starts
In 2019, the first phase of the research and development of the test trial system for the major project of China Electronics Technology’s world-earth integrated information network was completed. The “Astrology” test 1 and 2 satellites developed by China Electronics Technology 54 were successfully launched, and it was the first transmission group in China to achieve A comprehensive low-orbit satellite with functions such as network, inter-satellite measurement, navigation enhancement, and ground remote sensing.
In 2021, China will launch the double star of the backbone network of the sky-earth integration, and start the construction of the “sky-net-earth-net” phase. It is estimated that in 2025, China’s space-based network will initially form its capabilities and be interconnected with terrestrial networks.
The world-ground integrated information network is composed of a space-based backbone network, a space-based access network, and a ground-based node network, and is interconnected with the terrestrial Internet and mobile communication network to establish a “global coverage, on-demand access, on-demand services, safe and reliable “The world’s integrated information network system. After completion, China will have the capabilities of continuous global time-space communications, highly reliable and secure communications, regional large-capacity communications, and high-mobility full-range information transmission.
5. Market Analysis of China’s Satellite Remote Sensing Industry: Fully Launched Commercialization
——Application status: The application field of remote sensing continues to expand
China’s satellite remote sensing application began with a breakthrough in space technology in the 1970s. After more than 40 years of development, it has penetrated into traditional industries and has nurtured a series of emerging industries with broad market prospects. It has become China’s strategic high-tech industry. An important part of. Satellite remote sensing applications not only play an important role in the transformation of China’s traditional industries and economic restructuring, but also play an increasingly important role in the implementation of the scientific outlook on development by governments at all levels, building a harmonious society, paying attention to people’s livelihood, and improving public management and public service levels. Important role.
With the continuous expansion of China’s satellite remote sensing applications, satellite remote sensing has been widely used in agriculture, forestry, land, water conservancy, urban and rural construction, environment, surveying and mapping, transportation, meteorology, oceanography, and earth science research.
Remote sensing technology has played an irreplaceable role in the construction of major projects and major tasks such as China’s large-scale survey of land resources, West-East gas transmission, South-North water transfer, Three Gorges Project, Three Rivers and Three Lakes management, returning farmland to forest, sand control, transportation planning and construction, coastal zone monitoring and island mapping, 3 million square kilometers of marine rights and interests maintenance and regional economic survey management.
2) Development plan: acceleration of satellite remote sensing commercialization
In 2021, China plans to launch satellites 25 times, and remote sensing satellites account for more than half, up to 17 times. At present, the number of Chinese remote sensing satellites in orbit is 99, of which 64 are a commercial investment, accounting for up to 65% (China’s commercial remote sensing satellites only accounted for 48% before 2019). A total of 39 commercial remote sensing satellites have been launched since 2019, far exceeding the 8 remote sensing satellites invested by the Ministry of Finance.