Rebirth: Starting from Lighting Up the Tech Tree

Chapter 182 StarNet Project

Zuo Cheng stood on the rooftop terrace of the 402 headquarters, holding a cup of coffee in his hand.

A light mist hung over Hangzhou in the morning, obscuring the distant Qiantang River. He looked down at a report on his phone screen: figures released last month by the UN Broadband Commission showed that 3.7 billion people worldwide still lacked internet access, more than half of whom lived in remote areas.

What does it mean to have no internet?

This means children in mountainous areas cannot access online classes, crew members on ocean-going fishing vessels cannot contact their families, and rescue information cannot be transmitted during disasters. No matter how dense the ground-based base stations are, they cannot cover 70% of the Earth's oceans and vast uninhabited areas.

Zuo Cheng finished the last sip of his coffee, then turned and walked back to the conference room.

The conference room was already full. Yu Ying sat on the left side of the long table, a stack of technical documents spread out in front of her. Li Guodong, along with Qiu Pei and Wei Jia, sat on the right side; the three had just come from the research institute and were still wearing their work clothes. Chen Hao sat at the far end, twirling a pen in his hand; he was the head of the satellite communications division and had been called to the meeting at the last minute.

Zuo Cheng walked to the main seat but did not sit down.

"The fourth phase of Project Sky Dome has been successfully completed and accepted," he said. "The 480 satellites have been successfully networked, and the AI ​​scheduling system is operating stably. But I have a question."

He looked around the room.

"Four hundred and eighty, is that enough?"

Chen Hao stopped twirling his pen.

"Covering China is no problem," Chen Hao said, "but globally, there are still large blind spots in high-latitude regions and ocean areas."

How large is the blind spot?

"Based on the current orbital distribution, the global real-time coverage is estimated at about 40%. If we broaden it to include cumulative coverage throughout the day, it's about 65%." Chen Hao paused, "That means there's still one-third of the Earth's surface that satellites will never pass over."

Zuo Cheng nodded.

How many Starlink satellites has SpaceX applied for?

"Twelve thousand," Yu Ying continued. "A low-Earth orbit constellation, deployed in three tiers. Their goal is seamless global coverage."

What about us?

The meeting room fell silent.

Zuo Cheng turned on the electronic screen behind him, and a world map appeared before everyone. The map was marked with dense red dots, which marked the locations of existing ground base stations. Large areas in central Africa, the South American rainforest, the central Pacific Ocean, and near the Arctic Circle were blank.

"I have an idea," Zuo Cheng said. "Let's launch the StarNet project."

He typed four large characters on the screen.

"The goal is to form a global constellation of 12,000 low-Earth orbit satellites. Regardless of country, terrain, or whether it's over sea or land, this will allow anyone on Earth, from anywhere in the world, to access high-speed internet."

Li Guodong raised his head.

"Twelve thousand?"

"right."

"The 480 satellites in Project Sky have already taken us three years," Li Guodong said. "12,000 satellites would be 25 times the current number."

"That's why I called everyone here," Zuo Cheng said. "I don't want you to start building it right now; I want you to tell me whether this is technically possible, how to do it, and what's needed."

Yu Ying opened the notebook in front of her.

"From a satellite platform perspective, the design of the second-generation satellite can be directly reused. The 91.2% conversion efficiency, three-year design life, and proven orbit maintenance and attitude control have all been validated. The problem lies in mass production."

Where is the production capacity bottleneck?

"Precision components," Yu Ying said. "Solar panels, spaceborne computers, and communication modules—the current supply chain can only produce a maximum of two thousand sets per year. If we want to move towards a scale of twelve thousand units, the supply chain would need to double and then double again."

Li Guodong added, "It also has launch capability. According to the current plan, Cangqiong-1 can carry out fifty launch missions per year, each with a payload capacity of ten tons, which can send about sixty satellites into orbit. That's 3,600 satellites a year, and it would take three and a half years to reach 12,000."

"Three and a half years is too long," Zuo Cheng said.

"Unless the emission density is increased."

"How do I increase it?"

"We'll build a new launch site," Li Guodong said. "In addition to the existing northwest base, we can build another one along the coast, specifically for launching from lower inclination orbits. With both launch sites operating in parallel, our annual launch capacity can be increased to over eighty."

Chen Hao interjected, "There's another option: multiple satellites on a single launch. If we optimize the satellite structure and release mechanism, a single launch can carry 120 or even more satellites. This would allow us to deploy over 7,000 satellites annually, completing the main network in two years."

Zuo Cheng listened without interrupting.

Qiu Pei and Wei Jia exchanged a few words in hushed tones, and then Qiu Pei raised his hand.

"Mr. Zuo, what about frequency and orbital resources? The orbital altitude and communication frequency bands for low-Earth orbit satellites are limited. The International Telecommunication Union's principle is first-come, first-served. SpaceX has already occupied a large amount of Ka and Ku bands. If we want to deploy 12,000 satellites, we must first secure enough frequency and orbital resources."

"That's a problem," Zuo Cheng said. "So the first step in the StarNet project isn't building satellites, it's securing the necessary frequency bands."

He walked back to his seat and sat down.

"I require the research institute to produce a complete technical feasibility report within two weeks, including the satellite platform plan, mass production schedule, launch deployment schedule, and frequency and orbit resource application strategy. Chen Hao, you are in charge of the communication architecture and will upgrade the Sky Dome Project's scheduling system to a full constellation version. Li Guodong, you will be in charge of the launch coordination; we need at least two launch sites operating simultaneously."

"What about the budget?" Yu Ying asked.

Zuo Cheng reported a number.

"Phase one, 20 billion."

Someone in the conference room gasped.

"We'll only use 20 billion to do two things," Zuo Cheng said. "First, a mass production line for satellites; second, launch sites and rocket production capacity. I'll handle the funding; you just need to tell me if the technology is feasible."

Li Guodong was silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

"OK."

Yu Ying closed her notebook.

"I think that's a good idea too."

Zuo Cheng stood up.

"Let's do it."

After the meeting, Zuo Cheng returned to his office alone. He closed the door, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

The system interface silently appeared in my mind.

Currently at 517 points, with a technology boost of 1.3 times and growth acceleration of 3.0 times. All six leaves of the sixth branch, Space Photovoltaic, are unlocked, each silently providing a technology boost. He looked at the technology tree; of the seven branches, six were already lit up, and the seventh branch, Commercial Aerospace, was slowly growing.

Once the StarNet project is launched, it means that 402 will simultaneously control the world's largest satellite internet constellation and the lowest-cost launch capability. This is no longer just a lead in a single technology, but a monopoly on the entire space infrastructure.

Zuo Cheng opened his eyes and looked out the window.

Sunlight pierces through the clouds in Hangzhou, illuminating the distant river. In a few years, when twelve thousand satellites orbit overhead, this sky will be completely different.

The phone on the table rang, and Han Lu's voice came through the receiver.

"Mr. Zuo, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will be meeting in Geneva next week to discuss low-orbit spectrum allocation. Representatives from various countries will be present."

"Book tickets," Zuo Cheng said. "I'm going myself."

He put down the phone and his gaze fell on the world map on the wall.

Twelve thousand satellites.

That is the true universe.