Speaking of rocket-building companies, perhaps many people think of Musk's SpaceX company first.
In fact, in recent years, many private enterprises that build rockets have emerged in my country, and their technology is also unique.
In Ningbo , there is such a private enterprise that builds rockets - Ningbo Tianqing Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Ningbo Tianqing) .
In the second half of this year, the solid-state launch vehicle SE-1 Yaoyi rocket developed by Ningbo Tianqing may usher in its first "highlight moment" of its first launch.
Tianqing Aerospace production base
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Rocket building is a job with high technical content. At present, the country mainly relies on "national team " , and the civilian forces are still in their infancy.
At the Ningbo Tianqing headquarters located in Ningbo Hi-tech Zone, Yang Wei, chairman of the company, told reporters that in 2018, when he led his team to Ningbo to start the company, many people in the Ningbo government and enterprise circles felt incredible about their business direction.
"You want to build rockets, isn't it possible?" At that time, there were many doubts like this. After learning about the technical accumulation of Ningbo Tianqing team, these people gradually believed that Ningbo Tianqing could indeed build rockets.
According to Yang Wei, Ningbo Tianqing's business is mainly concentrated in two major fields -
First, solid transport, and solid carrier rockets for launching satellite ; second, aerospace power, to create a stronger "heart" for the aerospace industry.
solid carrier rocket independently developed by Yang Wei and Ningbo Tianqing.
"At present, our technical level in the above two fields is top among domestic private enterprises." Yang Wei said that the two major businesses they focus on are complementary. Rocket R&D can drive the market promotion of engine supporting business, and the increasingly mature engine supporting business can feed back to rocket R&D.
If you use the automobile industry as a metaphor, Ningbo Tianqing is like being both an automobile manufacturer and selling its self-developed engines to other car companies.
However, from the perspective of industrial incubation, the engine supporting business will be easier to mature. In this field, Ningbo Tianqing has achieved large-scale profits.
It is reported that Ningbo Tianqing currently has more than 13,000 square meters of scientific research and production sites. Among them, its production base located in the Qianwan New District of Ningbo has built a complete engine shell and nozzle production line, covering all processes such as strong spinning, vacuum electron beam welding, vacuum heat treatment, non-destructive flaw detection, composite products, etc. It has X-ray , ultrasonic, magnetic powder non-destructive testing, and water pressure blasting test conditions. It can produce 3,000 sets of engines of various types per year.
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Among the existing private rocket manufacturing enterprises in China, Ningbo Tianqing is the only enterprise headquartered in in the southern region of . The headquarters of other companies are basically concentrated in Beijing, because Beijing has relatively good foundations and supporting facilities in the aerospace industry.
So, why did Yang Wei and his team choose Ningbo?
We first chose Ningbo after careful consideration. On the one hand, Ningbo has plans to build a space launch base; on the other hand, Ningbo has a relatively good manufacturing foundation.
Yang Wei said that in the development of Ningbo Tianqing in recent years, Ningbo's manufacturing foundation has indeed provided them with great help. For example, if Ningbo Tianqing wants to do an experiment, it will be found that all the supporting products required for this experiment can be found in Ningbo.
tianqing Aerospace's non-destructive testing center
. Ningbo's emphasis on technological innovation , as well as an increasingly better and better innovation and entrepreneurship atmosphere, is also an important reason why Yang Wei and his team are optimistic about and choose Ningbo.
Since Ningbo took root, Ningbo Tianqing has achieved gratifying results in technology research and development and industrialization.
For example, its self-developed solid carrier rocket SE-1 Yaoyi Rocket has made many innovative breakthroughs - it has developed the international leading upper-stage swing engine, and has enabled the rocket to achieve conventional container loading and omnidirectional rapid launch capabilities. In the future, it can also achieve air launch, improving maneuverability and delivery capabilities.
"Our upper stage swing engine comes with our innovatively designed swing mechanism, which allows the rocket to complete steering, orbit change and other actions in the sky without installing multiple sets of different engines. Its performance is much more advanced than the performance of the same type of products in the international world, and its weight is much lighter than that of the same type of products." Yang Wei said.
tianqing Aerospace production equipment
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At present, Ningbo Tianqing has more than 150 employees, including more than 60 scientific researchers. The members of its solid carrier team and aerospace power team are all from Xi'an University of Technology , Beihang , Harbin Institute of Technology , Huazhong University of Technology , Huazhong University of Technology , nantech engineering and other domestic first-class universities, as well as China Aerospace core scientific research institutes.
However, Ningbo is not a traditional aerospace city. All kinds of foundations and supporting facilities are relatively backward. Local universities do not have majors in the aerospace field, and they are still relatively weak in aggregating talents.
"In the research and development of aerospace technology in Ningbo, we do face many difficulties in talent. At present, Ningbo Tianqing mainly adopts two methods: one is to cooperate with local institutes such as the Ningbo Institute of Northwest Polytechnical University to attract some outstanding students to Ningbo; the other is to set up branches in cities such as Shanghai to attract outstanding talents from universities or aerospace enterprises." Yang Wei said.
The development of the aerospace industry is different from that of many industries. Its growth requires especially the support of government, enterprises, academic and research sectors.
As a policy fund established by the Ningbo Municipal Government, the Angel Fund can build a bridge for Ningbo Tianqing to communicate with all walks of life, especially to help Ningbo Tianqing strengthen its contacts with Ningbo Science and Technology, Economic and Information Technology, Taxation and other departments. These are very useful for the construction of the aerospace industry chain .
Yang Wei hopes that in the future, Angel Fund can also use its rich innovation resources to provide Ningbo Tianqing with some more specific assistance. For example, in terms of project application, tax policies, etc., we can help them with some tutoring or training.
Yang Wei said: "Aerospace is an emerging industry and represents the future. We look forward to the support of Ningbo departments, we can become the guide for the development of this industry in Ningbo, and ultimately build this industry into another golden business card for Ningbo."
In recent years, Ningbo has actively deployed related industries in the aerospace field and has a certain industrial foundation.
In addition to Ningbo Tianqing, in terms of satellite operations, Tianlian Measurement and Control Ningbo Station has settled in Xiangbao District;
in satellite applications include North Star Navigation Technology and Ditai Technology;
In related supporting industries, a number of high-tech enterprises serving the heavy equipment of major countries have emerged.
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