Interview 丨 Jiutian MSI founder Xie Tao: The inclusion of new infrastructure is a watershed for satellite Internet, and the industry has entered a practical period

Per reporter: Zhang Honglei Per editor: Zhang Haini

Nine Days MSI founder Xie Tao. Image source: Courtesy of the interviewee

As a supplementary means of terrestrial communication, the satellite Internet uses satellite technology to effectively fill the gap in terrestrial communication and achieve global coverage. With the development of commercial spaceflight, countries have also elevated the construction of satellite Internet to a national strategy. Whether it is the overseas Musk's Starlink satellite system (also known as the Starlink project) or the domestic satellite Internet being included in the new infrastructure, it has made the industry look at it continuously.

2020, also known as the first year of the satellite Internet, began to enter the intensive launch phase of satellites. Shenwan Hongyuan Research Report believes that it is expected that the scale of China's low-orbit satellites in orbit will reach more than 800 in 2022, and the total scale of China's low-orbit satellites is expected to reach 3950 in 2027.

Recently, the commercial satellite company Jiutian MSI completed a 270 million yuan B round of financing jointly led by AVIC Capital's fund AVIC Production and Investment and Beijing Guofu Capital, which is also the first major financing progress in the industry after the satellite Internet was included in the new infrastructure category.

Recently, the Daily Economic News reporter (hereinafter referred to as NBD) interviewed Xie Tao, founder and CEO of Nine Days MSI, to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the satellite Internet. As a "veteran" in the field of aerospace, Xie Tao has served in the space agency for more than 10 years. Xie Tao has experienced the lonely persistence at the beginning of the industry, and has also experienced the joy of partner-approved projects. In his view, the new infrastructure is the watershed of the satellite Internet, and with the clarity of policy planning, the industry has entered a solid stage of hard work.

NBD: How has it changed since I started my business?

Xie Tao: At the beginning of its establishment, Nine Days MSI established the goal of doing satellite Internet, when there were already a number of broadband constellation projects abroad, but there were very few domestic participants. However, in the specific exploration, it can be found that this field is a heavily invested field, usually requiring at least tens of billions of dollars to start the commercial operation of the constellation. Therefore, under the conditions of insufficient maturity in social conditions, technology accumulation, and investment level, we chose to change the path and started from the narrow-band satellite Internet of Things at the beginning. Compared with the satellite Internet, the satellite Internet of Things does not need to wait for real-time coverage before starting commercial operations, and the investment level will be reduced by at least ten times. And reality proves that we have also stepped out of a path from satellite Internet of Things to satellite Internet of Things. With the inclusion of the satellite Internet in the new infrastructure, the construction speed of our satellite Internet is also accelerating, and we have also changed from entrepreneurs to participants in the new infrastructure, and the path to the realization of the original dream has become clearer.

NBD: A few years ago, many practitioners in the commercial aerospace field said that they were "lonely" earlier. Has this mood changed as the industry has changed?

Xie Tao: When I started my business in 2015, I really felt very lonely. On the one hand, in the face of the public's incomprehension, many people have a skeptical attitude towards private commercial aerospace companies, and investors are not optimistic. In the early stage of entering the industry, there is little progress in substantive projects, and more in the industry education popularization and communication with investors. However, with the increase in the number of private commercial aerospace companies, the continuous release of policy dividends, the further improvement of industry maturity, and the public, industry experts, and investment circles have changed their perception of private commercial aerospace companies. There are also many voices of encouragement and support, and there is also a lot less loneliness.

After several years of exploration and verification, the commercial aerospace and satellite Internet fields have gradually gone through a period of feeling lonely, and there is no time to sigh the mood, enter a solid landing period, and begin to promote the landing of application scenarios.

NBD: How has capital's attitude towards satellite Internet changed?

Xie Tao: After the capital has invested in the Internet, artificial intelligence and other fields, it is also hoped to find new field investment, in recent years, commercial aerospace is considered to be the investment in the field of science and technology under the cold winter of capital "Xiaoyang Spring". With the dividends of policies and the development of the industry, commercial aerospace has long become one of the hot spots for investors. Previously, the entire industry is still in its infancy, the field is mostly concerned about the early investment of institutions, financing to the B round, C round of enterprises are not many, with the satellite Internet is included in the new infrastructure, the national brand, industrial funds, partial to the later stage of the investment institutions into the field, capital for commercial aerospace, satellite Internet development more confident, will also promote capital long-term attention to the industry, long-term industrial investment.

NBD: What does the inclusion of new infrastructure mean for satellite internet?

Xie Tao: The inclusion of satellite Internet in new infrastructure is a watershed in the development of commercial spaceflight, and the development of the industry has also changed from "guerrilla warfare" to "position warfare". Previously, there was uncertainty in the number of satellites launched by various commercial space companies and market forecasts, and the business was in a state of exploration; after being included in the new infrastructure, the planning and certainty of the number of satellite launches were stronger, the companies in the industrial chain provided more space for products and services, and the industrial planning path was clearer. At present, the role of satellite manufacturers and rocket providers is similar to that of communication equipment manufacturers in the construction of 4G/5G networks, and the activity of the entire industry chain is also further improving.

NBD: What are the current differences in the development of satellite Internet between China and the United States?

Xie Tao: At present, China and the United States belong to the first echelon of satellite Internet. In terms of deployment time, the United States is currently slightly ahead. The pace of launching multiple satellites with one arrow and the batch speed of satellites are relatively fast; in terms of cost, some Internet satellite companies in the United States have also formed a single-satellite cost advantage through technological innovation.

But in the long run, the satellite Internet is not only the pursuit of the reliability of a single satellite, but more importantly, the system reliability and cost reduction model. As competition intensifies, it will eventually come close to a system-level contest. Although the domestic deployment time is slightly slower, in the case of mobilizing the national team and private enterprises, it is believed that the gap in technology and cost will be gradually shortened, showing the unique advantages of China's satellite Internet.

NBD: In the first quarter of this year, OneWeb, a satellite Internet company invested by SoftBank Group, filed for bankruptcy.

Xie Tao: From the perspective of the industry, the bankruptcy of a company does not mean that there are problems in the industry. Nokia's collapse does not mean that the mobile phone industry is no longer working, but the rise of a new type of smart phone. With the vigorous development of a number of Internet satellite enterprises at home and abroad, some enterprises with low efficiency and incorrect models are also facing a crisis of elimination.

From the analysis of business logic, The bankruptcy of OneWeb is not only affected by the epidemic, but also may have problems in external financing and internal management. This also warns entrepreneurs in the field of satellite Internet to always remember that the risks in this field are relatively large, and they need to have a clear technical path to reduce the cost of repeated investment, repeated research and development, and repeated construction. And actively respond to the relevant national policies, and deeply fit with the top-level design to further reduce operational risks.

NBD: At present, what is the most difficult point that the industry needs to break through?

Xie Tao: Realizing technology and market two-wheel drive is still a challenge at present. In the context of new infrastructure, if the satellite Internet construction only considers technical factors and is completely handed over to the national team, the cost may still be high; while private companies have more market advantages and risk-taking spirit, but the technical level is not as stable as the national team. Under the premise of ensuring the speed of technology and deployment, it is crucial to make good use of the market-oriented entrepreneurial ability of private enterprises, stimulate industrial vitality, form a hundred flowers of technological innovation, form a more perfect industrial chain, and promote the further development of the satellite Internet.

NBD: At present, private enterprises, national teams, and Internet companies are all laying out in commercial aerospace and satellite Internet, have they formed obvious characteristics and echelons?

Xie Tao: Different subjects will definitely have different characteristics. China's satellite Internet should be led by central enterprises in the construction and operation of infrastructure, and private enterprises should participate in the supply of satellite platforms, payloads and even terminal equipment to help them reduce costs and improve efficiency. Some are similar to the relationship between communication equipment manufacturers such as Huawei and communication operators such as China Mobile in the construction of the ground network.

Internet enterprises layout satellite Internet in the hope of covering users that cannot be covered by ground operators, increasing user increment, and carrying out new application development and expansion.

NBD: Is the satellite Internet fully competitive, and what will change in the future?

Xie Tao: With the increasing number of participants in the satellite Internet, the industry has formed an overall manufacturer, supplier, terminal manufacturer of communication satellites... The industrial chain with obvious echelons and complete chains. With the intensification of competition, the industry will also form an overall manufacturer head effect, and the competition of suppliers in various fields will continue to subdivide. In the future, satellite manufacturers may be dominated by several national teams and private enterprises with strong technical strength and abundant funds, and more enterprises will compete in various segments of the satellite industry chain.

NBD: How to ensure that the scene lands?

Xie Tao: The first three years of satellite Internet belong to the stage of infrastructure construction, and it is necessary to achieve batch and low cost in order to achieve batch launch in the future. Taking Nine Days MSI as an example, as a communication satellite supplier, on the one hand, we guarantee revenue and cash flow through batch orders; on the other hand, we are also laying out satellite terminals and industry applications to provide end-to-end product supply and industry services.

Satellite Internet involves a long chain, and when doing satellite Internet of Things solutions before, it also cooperated with many To B enterprises. Working with industry partners not only requires a good application of the scene, but also needs to consider how to solve the pain points. In the process of terminal research and development, it is also necessary to repeatedly experiment in different application scenarios.

At the end of 2020, we will strive to make several Ka flat antennas, ship-mounted and vehicle-mounted terminals and put them into testing in 2021.

NBD: What are the future opportunities for B-side and C-side applications?

Xie Tao: In the future, the two applications should go hand in hand. Taking shipboard as an example, most of them are mainly B-end applications. In-vehicle, both To B and To C. The fleet of logistics vehicles is To B's, off-road vehicles as well as some cross-border logistics vehicles, To C more. In some scenarios where there is no communication signal, applications such as satellite networks to the home are definitely more To C, and both sides also have opportunities.

There is a transition process from the B-side to the C-side. The product is ready, and everyone will naturally buy it when the cost performance is high. To C is more of a standardized product, and To B is more of a customized product.

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