The strength to win iPhone 12, China's Beidou's 26 years are the appearance of domestic substitution counterattack

Latest update time：2020-10-21

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China's Beidou is the best example of domestic substitution.

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Author | Xiao Man

Supporting Beidou is inevitable, otherwise the iPhone 12 will definitely be eliminated.

Lin Baojun, chief satellite designer of the BeiDou-3 system, said in an interview.

Sure enough, Apple also has difficulty passing the Beidou test; the latest iPhone 12 series of mobile phones all support the Beidou satellite navigation system.

So far, the Beidou system has basically covered the Chinese smartphone market.

This is not surprising. After all, Beidou’s current strength cannot be ignored.

Controlled by others

The BeiDou satellite system is my country's third mature global satellite navigation system after the US GPS and Russia's GLONASS, and is also one of the suppliers recognized by the United Nations Satellite Navigation Committee.

Although Beidou is now on par with other global satellite navigation systems, more than 20 years ago, China's satellite system was just a "little transparent" system and needed to rely on other countries' positioning systems, such as GPS.

The United States began developing a satellite positioning system in 1958, spending $30 billion to eventually build the GPS, which was opened to civilian use around the world, but the military portion is still in its own hands.

At that time, many countries in the world, besides China, were also using GPS. As the owner of the technological achievements, the United States had absolute control, and at certain moments it could even rise to "hegemony." For example, during the "Galaxy" incident.

In 1993, the United States claimed that the Chinese cargo ship "Yinhe" was carrying precursor chemicals for making chemical weapons on its way to the Iranian port of Abbas. It intercepted the ship in the international waters of the Indian Ocean and demanded to board the ship for inspection. Even before China responded, the United States had directly cut off the GPS signal of the cargo ship. For a time, the "Yinhe" lost its direction at sea and could not move forward.

If we refuse, we will feel helpless and we will have to take the blame; if we let them investigate, we will feel insulted and helpless to some extent.

Sha Zukang, then deputy director of the International Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said this when recalling this history: This uncomfortable feeling of being "choked" made the Chinese people more clearly aware of the importance of building a satellite system.

It is worth mentioning that before the "Galaxy" incident, the United States had applied GPS to the Gulf War and achieved great results in military use. It was called a "military force multiplier", which made various countries including China realize that they must establish their own "GPS".

In 1994, China finally put the construction of its own satellite system on the agenda and officially launched the construction of Beidou-1.

The reason why we say "finally" is because this is not my country's first attempt at a satellite system; the "Lighthouse Project" in 1967 and the dual-star positioning plan proposed by experts and scholars such as Chen Fangyun in 1983 were both proposed for satellite construction.

However, these plans either ended in failure or were shelved. Although the economic conditions at the time were very limited, it was ultimately because they did not receive enough attention.

Although there were no outstanding research results, the “three-step” development strategy of the Beidou system was established in the 1980s:

BeiDou-1: Test and verify the system, provide services to China;
BeiDou-2: A regional navigation and positioning system that provides services to the Asia-Pacific region;
BeiDou-3: A global navigation and positioning system that provides services to the world.

Unlike the US GPS, which was completed in one go, China's satellite construction was regional first and then global, taking into account the national conditions at the time. The plan was very beautiful, but the reality was very bleak.

Difficulties

China built BeiDou-1 without experience, money, limited scientific research equipment, and a poor R&D environment. To make matters worse, Western countries blocked its technology.

(Before the BeiDou-1 project was launched) For example, some products that our country imported for communication satellites were banned and blocked for no reason. When the BeiDou-1 project was launched, foreign countries still had some considerations about the technology ban and not selling some high-quality products to us.

Xie Jun, chief designer of the Beidou system, recalled in an interview.

However, this method of trying to nip the problem in the bud did not work. With the engineers' dedicated efforts, my country launched two geostationary orbit satellites in 2000 and launched another one in 2003, and the BeiDou-1 system was completed.

BeiDou-1 solved the problem of whether China had an independent satellite navigation system and took the first step in satellite construction. However, along with the success came the further technological blockade by Western countries.

Xie Jun said that during the construction of Beidou-2, he clearly felt that foreign countries were bargaining on some products, or did not provide the required technical indicators.

Satellite-borne atomic clock technology is one of them. Due to the embargo by Western countries, the atomic clock, the "heart of Beidou", has become a key technical bottleneck of the project. It can be said that if a breakthrough cannot be achieved, Beidou construction will be doomed.

In addition to solving technical difficulties, China also needs to compete with the European Union for satellite navigation frequency bands.

The prime frequency band has long been occupied by the United States and Russia, and the small amount of frequency that is barely squeezed out requires countries to apply for competition. The rules of competition are "first come, first served" set by Western countries; in other words, whoever goes to the sky first gets it.

In addition, according to the ITU's "seven-year limit" application rule, my country needs to launch a satellite before April 17, 2007, otherwise its application will be invalidated.

The picture shows the three satellites that are part of the Galileo project [Photo source: Xinhua News Agency]

Although my country applied for it in 2000, BeiDou-2 was in the demonstration stage from 2000 to 2004. In addition, due to the detour it took in participating in the European Galileo Project, there were only three years left for the construction of BeiDou-2.

On the one hand, there is an external technological blockade, and on the other hand, there is internal time pressure. The Beidou team can only struggle with difficulties and race against time.

Finally, in April 2007, the first navigation satellite of the BeiDou-2 system was ready for launch. However, at the last minute, the BeiDou team discovered an abnormality in the satellite transponder during the third general inspection.

The deadline was approaching, but if the fault was not eliminated, it would be impossible to prove that the frequency transmission was achieved. In the end, the Beidou team decided to race against time again and take out the transponder for repair.

To be honest, during those three days, I felt nervous, heavy and stressed. I basically didn't sleep for 72 hours.

Yang Changfeng, chief designer of the Beidou project, recalled.

At 4:00 on April 14, 2007, the BeiDou-2 satellite took off smoothly. At about 20:00 on April 16, the satellite sent back a signal; at this time, there were less than 4 hours left before the ITU's "seven-year limit".

All Beidou chips are Chinese chips

The satellite frequency band has been acquired and the Beidou-2 system has been successfully deployed. The "three-step" construction of Beidou has progressed two-thirds. To achieve the ultimate goal, the last step is very critical, as it determines whether China's Beidou can go from regional to global.

In 2009, China started the construction of the BeiDou-3 system.

With the experience and lessons learned from the US blockade of GPS and the joint development of the Galileo system, China is more clear about one thing: independence! independence! independence!

Only when the core components are 100% autonomous and controllable can the Beidou-3 satellite not be controlled by others.

Lin Baojun said in an interview.

In order to achieve complete independence, China's Beidou did not adopt the global station deployment method of the US GPS and Russia's GLONASS system. Instead, it established inter-satellite links to achieve interoperability between satellites and satellites, and satellites and ground stations, reducing dependence on ground stations.

However, intersatellite links increase the amount of satellite computing power, and chips become a "headache".

The European sc80c32 chip used in satellites in the past can no longer meet the requirements of higher computing power and lower error rate. Although there are chips domestically, they have not been tested in application.

After weighing the pros and cons, the BeiDou team finally chose the little-known Chinese Loongson. Later facts also proved that the Chinese Loongson not only met the computing power requirements, but also ensured the normal operation of satellites even in harsh space environments.

"Domestic does not mean bad, domestic does not mean unreliable", "Beidou chips are basically at the same level as foreign ones", "They are all made by ourselves", "The ground chips are also completely made by China"... After the Beidou-3 was completed, the engineers said with confidence.

Considering the current not-so-peaceful international situation, although it will have an impact on Beidou's internationalization, there is no so-called "bottleneck" for Beidou satellites.

On June 23, 2020, the last BeiDou-3 global networking satellite was launched into space, fully completing the BeiDou-3 global satellite navigation system constellation deployment.

The deployment of the 12 BeiDou-3 satellites took three years and three months, but the result was a leap that took the United States 20 years to complete from GPS 2 to GPS 3.

All of this was achieved through the Beidou team's research day and night.

The camp bed is placed in the office. I can lie down when I am tired and continue working when I wake up.

This is a true portrayal of the Beidou team.

Such a scene aptly illustrates that – “There is no such thing as casual success. It is nothing more than persistence without forgetting the original intention.”

Today, the BeiDou system is on par with GPS in terms of coverage, but this is not the end. Lin Baojun said:

In the four major navigation systems, the original goal was to fight for second place and maintain third place, but I think since I have to score goals when I go on the court, my goal is to be the best in the world, otherwise let's not do it.

But the competition for first place is not to show off, but to provide better services——

The compass invented by the ancient Chinese is used all over the world. Beidou is another contribution made by Chinese astronauts to the world. The construction of Beidou is not to dominate the world, but to benefit all mankind.

This is the true style of a great country.

The best portrayal of domestic substitution

From the determined development from poverty at the end of the last century, to breaking through the blockade step by step, to building its own global satellite system completely independently, China's Beidou's posture has gone from catching up, running side by side, to surpassing, which took 26 years and the process was full of bitterness.

Similar experiences are happening in the semiconductor and mobile phone industries in the 21st century.

Historical experience tells us that even if there is a technological ban or development is constrained, there is still a way out, and domestic substitution is the best way.

China's Beidou has provided the best proof.

What it reflects is not only the mark of the times, but also China's fearlessness and tenacity in seeking independence.

True strength comes from repeated tempering; true strength is not about conquering, but about sharing.

China's Beidou has given the best portrayal.

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