China - July 25, 2024

China shortens satellite production cycle from 6 months to 20 days

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Smart technology is lifting China's satellite manufacturing industry to the next level.

China Academy of Space Technology, under the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, has reduced the manufacturing time for a satellite from six months to a mere 20 days, thanks to its automated production lines.

There are hardly any workers at its 4,000-square-meter factory in north China's Tianjin Municipality. The satellites are manufactured across 13 sites, where mechanical arms and automated guided vehicles are key to production.

(Sound_bite)

Yang Wen, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation:

"This is the starting point of the production line. It is responsible for preparing materials. When there is a task, orders for materials will be placed. After the material preparation begins, all the materials will be prepared in accordance with the requirements and put in this place. After that, the production line officially starts work, and begin to forward the materials."

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One of the most challenging tasks in satellite manufacturing is assembling the numerous cables that are situated in several layers on the device.

To address the issue, the factory uses a digital guidance system, an illuminated map showing workers exactly where the cables need to go.

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Meng Shaohua, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation:

"You can see that it is composed of four layers of cables. These are the corresponding processes, and these are the cables' socket numbers. Workers can perform the assembly work according to the projected patterns."

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According to Allied Market Research, the market size of the global satellite industry is projected to be valued at more than 615 billion U.S. dollars by 2032.

[Restriction: No access Chinese mainland]