Set sail1992

Chapter 780 Let's Buy a Satellite
"Manager Zhao?" Zhang Qihang explained to the other party somewhat dumbfounded: "Let me tell you the truth, I am not inquiring for a certain country, I am inquiring for our company."

"Your company?"

On the opposite side, Manager Zhao Fei's tone was full of suspicion.

Zhang Qihang understood why he had such a skeptical tone: One of your companies asked how much it would cost to rent a transponder. You have enough money to support it?

Faced with such a high-level existence, Zhang Qihang has no temper at all. He explained: "That's the thing, we have developed a long-endurance fixed-wing drone, but it is limited by the curvature of the earth, and the control distance Due to the limitation, the performance of our UAV cannot be brought into full play, so we want to learn from the US RQ-1 'Predator' UAV, using communication satellites as a means of control relay."

"..."

Zhao Fei on the other end of the phone was silent for a while.

In fact, at this moment, Zhao Fei's heart is not only silent, but his heart is really cool: he thought that Huateng Industrial Group was helping a certain country to inquire about the news of communication satellites, and that Great Wall Industrial Group was about to complete its first integration. As for the star exit, I dare to believe that this is all my own wishful thinking.

He wanted to hang up the phone directly, but it would be a bit impolite. After thinking about it, Zhao Fei still said to Zhang Qihang: "Mr. Zhang, let me tell you this, our country's communication satellite resources are very tight. I’m afraid it’s not easy to rent some satellite resources.”

This is actually a very euphemistic way of saying that our country has launched a total of 5 Dongfanghong-2 satellites, of which the first two have completed their missions and crashed into the atmosphere. That is to say, in the huge China, there are only 3 communication satellites. , A total of 12 transponders can be used. In order to meet the growing communication needs at home and abroad, the country even had to lease several transponders from Intelsat. How could there be transponder resources leased to you?
"Yes, yes, I understand," Zhang Qihang nodded repeatedly: "If it is the Dongfanghong-5 communication satellite that will be launched in May, is it possible for us to lease it?"

"That's unlikely." Zhao Fei shook his head without hesitation: "Comrade Zhang Qihang, you may not be very clear about it. I don't know how many relevant departments and units in China are staring at this Dongfanghong No. 3."

"Is that so..." Zhang Qihang thought for a while, and then asked: "Then is there a possibility that we buy a Dongfanghong No. 3..."

"What?!" Zhao Fei was taken aback: "You want to buy a communication satellite? What are you kidding?!"

It's no wonder Zhao Fei was surprised, the idea Zhang Qihang put forward was beyond his imagination: a company wants to buy communication satellites?What are you kidding? !

Do you know how much a communication satellite costs?
Do you know how much it costs from manufacture to dispatch?
In Zhao Fei's view, Zhang Qihang simply doesn't know the heights of the heavens and the depths of the earth!

Faced with Zhao Fei's extremely shocked tone, Zhang Qihang asked back: "What? Is there a regulation in our country that prohibits companies from purchasing communication satellites?"

"That's not..."

"That's right, since the country doesn't have regulations prohibiting companies from buying satellites, what's wrong with buying a satellite ourselves?"

If he didn't know that the scale of Huateng Industrial Group is not small, Zhao Fei would hardly be willing to chat with Zhang Qihang: You stick, you don't understand anything!

But since he couldn't directly hang up the phone, Zhao Fei hesitated, and decided to explain a few words to Zhang Qihang: "Mr. Zhang, although there is no regulation in our country that prohibits companies from purchasing miniatures themselves, you may not be very familiar with satellite and rocket launches. I understand, don’t look at the small size of the satellite, but take the Dongfanghong-3 communication satellite we developed as an example, the cost is almost 2 million RMB, and this is only the value of the satellite. 2.5 million RMB, plus insurance and subsequent control... Let’s put it this way, a satellite needs at least 5 million RMB from its manufacture to its successful orbit. Only the country can afford such an expensive cost. Say you understand?"

Zhao Fei felt that he had good intentions, but Zhang Qihang was surprised and said, "Just 5 million?"

As long as 5 million...

if only? !
Zhao Fei almost choked on his own saliva: Listen~!listen!Is this speaking human language?And "it only needs 4 million?" Do you know what [-] million means and how much it is?
Little did he know that Zhang Qihang really thought it was too cheap.

The reason for this feeling is that Zhang Qihang vaguely remembered that around 2005, the price of a medium-sized satellite was more than 5000 million U.S. dollars. Fumei", the value of a communication satellite must be at least hundreds of millions of dollars.

The cost of satellites is so high, and the cost of launching rockets is not cheap. In Zhang Qihang’s impression, even the launch cost of the relatively cheap Long March 3B carrier rocket is about 7000 million U.S. dollars. Rockets from European and American countries The launch cost is as high as hundreds of millions of dollars.

It is precisely because the cost of rocket launch is so high that after a few years, Space X's recyclable rocket plan will attract the attention of the world, but now, Zhao Fei actually said that the cost of rocket launch is only 2.5 million. RMB, about 3000 million US dollars?
This is much cheaper than Zhang Qihang's impression.

Because he has a bad impression of Zhang Qihang, Zhao Fei is naturally not very angry: "It is true that only 5 million is almost enough, and our country does not prohibit companies from buying satellites... Mr. Zhang, if you really want to buy a satellite If you have an idea, our Great Wall Industrial Corporation doesn’t mind selling you one, it covers everything from satellite manufacturing to launch, and even gives you a 9% discount.”

9 million, with a 4.5% discount, that's [-] million.

"That's a good thing." Zhang Qihang rubbed his chin, thoughtfully: "Mr. Zhao, I would venture to ask, if our Huateng Industrial Group really owns our own communication satellite, can we engage in satellite communication operation business?"

Having said that, in what year was Satcom Group established?

"I said Mr. Zhang, what do you think?" Zhao Fei was amused by Zhang Qihang's words: "You want to buy satellites? This is no problem, but if you want to engage in satellite communication and service business, you have the satellite communication business granted by the state." License?"

"That is to say, if we buy a communication satellite, it's fine to use it, but it's not okay to provide services to society, right?"

"Of course!"

Zhang Qihang was a little disappointed, but after thinking about it, he asked again: "What if it is to provide satellite services to enterprises outside China?"

"Then we're definitely out of control."

"5 million is indeed a bit expensive," Zhang Qihang thought for a while, and tentatively asked Zhao Fei, "Mr. Zhao, doesn't Dongfanghong 3 have 24 transponders? In this case, can you add a transponder? Sell ​​this transponder to us separately? Or do you sell us the right to use one of the transponders without changing the design?"

Hearing what Zhang Qihang said, Zhao Fei was stunned for a long time before he stuttered and said, "Boss Zhang, are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious," Zhang Qihang nodded affirmatively: "Assuming the total cost of the rocket and satellite is 5 million yuan, one-twentieth of it is just a little more than 24 million RMB, and 2000 million yuan is enough to buy a transponder." We can still accept the right to use it.”

After a pause, Zhang Qihang added: "Well, according to what I learned before, our country will launch at least 5 to 6 Dongfanghong-[-] communication satellites, right? We can buy one for each of the subsequent satellites. Forwarder."

If you want to own a communication satellite belonging to Huateng Industrial Group, you need at least 5 million RMB, but for Huateng Industrial Group, there is no such a large business volume, but if you buy one at a price of more than 2000 million The right to use the transponder is another matter, and if each Dongfanghong-3 communication satellite has a transponder belonging to Huateng Industrial Group, it means that Huateng Industrial Group has a global coverage. For the communication satellite network, for Huateng Industrial Group, this investment can be made back no matter what.

"..."

Zhao Fei was stunned by Zhang Qihang's words and didn't know how to speak for a moment.

Because he suddenly felt that what Zhang Qihang said was very reasonable: the maximum carrying mass of the geosynchronous transfer orbit of the Long March 5.5B carrier rocket is 3 tons, while the separation mass of the Dongfanghong 2260 communication satellite is 949 kg. The weight of the rocket is only 30 kilograms. Even if a transponder and supporting circuits and servo systems are added during the design, it will only increase the mass by no more than [-] kilograms. For the carrying capacity of the Long March [-]B carrier rocket Not a problem at all.

The reason why 3 transponders were designed for the Dongfanghong-24 communication satellite before does not mean that CASIC can only design the Dongfanghong-24 communication satellite with 3 transponders. In fact, 24 is just the optimal solution, but It's perfectly fine to add another transponder if needed.

So here comes the question: If adding one more transponder can make CASIC earn tens of millions more...

"Mr. Zhang, are you serious?"

At this moment, Zhao Fei's tone finally became serious.

"Of course," Zhang Qihang replied without hesitation: "Mr. Zhao, you should have known about the situation of our Huateng Industrial Group before you called me. You know that our Huateng Industrial Group has this economic strength and can win With such a sum of money, Huateng Huateng Industrial Group also has a lot of overseas business, if we have our own satellite transponder, we can develop more types of business.”

"Is that so..."

Zhao Fei fell silent.

Of course he knew that what Zhang Qihang said was correct, CASIC still had some understanding of the situation of Huateng Industrial Group, but then again, if it wasn't because of his understanding of the situation of Huateng Industrial Group, Zhao Fei would have accompanied Zhang Qihang to talk about this Long time light?
After a while of silence, Zhao Fei finally spoke: "Mr. Zhang, let me tell you this. Your proposal is interesting, but we have never encountered similar business before. I need to communicate with the above before I can reply you."

"Of course," Zhang Qihang was not surprised by Zhao Fei's answer, he nodded happily: "I can understand."

Zhao Fei went on to say: "In addition, let's not talk about the attitude of the higher level, even if the higher level agrees to sell you a transponder, but the price is definitely not calculated by dividing 5 million by 24, I say you can understand Bar?"

Why do you say that?

Because all the expenses for the manufacture and launch of the Dongfanghong-3 communication satellite by CASIC are borne by the state, which is the state's financial appropriation. In this case, the calculation is actually only the cost price, but if the transponder is sold externally Even though Huateng Industrial Group is also a state-owned enterprise, the nature is different, and it is impossible to supply Huateng Industrial Group at cost price.

"Of course, I can fully understand," Zhang Qihang nodded happily, "But Mr. Zhao, no matter whether our cooperation can be achieved or not, I still have a proposal."

"Oh, you said."

Zhang Qihang said: "The bandwidth resources of our existing Dongfanghong-2 communication satellite cannot be fully loaded all the time, right? Can we lease some resources during the low period?"

Ok?
Hearing Zhang Qihang's words, Zhao Fei's eyes lit up.

When Zhang Qihang proposed to lease the bandwidth resources of the Dongfanghong-2 communication satellite before, the reason why Zhao Fei refused without saying anything was because in his concept, since you want to rent resources, it should be at least a month, a quarter or a month. From half a year?
Moreover, for the "tenant" Huateng Industrial Group, since it is a rented resource, it is of course necessary to "make the best use of everything", wishing to fill up the bandwidth 24 hours a day.

Based on this kind of thinking, he will reject Zhang Qihang's proposal without hesitation, but Zhang Qihang's proposal of renting bandwidth resources in the low-use time period at this moment is not something that cannot be discussed. During the load time period, the bandwidth resources of the satellite are also idle. If it can generate income, that is of course the best...

Thinking of this, Zhao Fei said slowly: "If it's not a low-load time period, then it's not impossible to discuss, but Mr. Zhang, there are a few points I must explain to you:
First, I need to report this matter to the leader. As for whether the leader can agree to lease the satellite resources for this part of the time period to you, I cannot give you any guarantee;
The second point, I must remind you that the low-load time period of the satellite is from after 22 o'clock to before 6 o'clock in the morning..."

"I understand." Before Zhao Fei finished speaking, Zhang Qihang nodded and said, "Since it's the low-load time of the satellite, it must be the time for everyone to rest, but for us, it doesn't matter, there are satellite resources It is enough for us to use it.”

"Then there's no problem," Zhao Fei breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that, "Then let me ask the leader for you."

(End of this chapter)