Those watching the United States space sector will have begun to take for granted commercial companies doing some pretty unprecedented things such as ferrying astronauts to/from the ISS, planning asteroid mining missions, space farming, or manufacturing in space. With SpaceX having set the gold standard for commercial crewed and cargo spaceflight, and with companies like Asteroid Mining Corporation and Deep Space Industries having been planning asteroid mining missions for almost a decade, commercial space exploration in the west is a relatively mature–if still very nascent–sector.

那些关注美国太空部门的人开始认为商业公司做一些前所未有的事情是理所当然的，例如运送宇航员往返国际空间站、规划小行星采矿任务、太空农业或太空制造。随着 SpaceX 为商业载人航天和货运航天树立了黄金标准，以及像 Asteroid Mining Corporation 和 Deep Space Industries 这样已经计划了近十年的小行星采矿任务的公司，西方的商业太空探索是个相对成熟（尽管仍然年轻）的部门。

In the case of China, commercial space exploration is more limited. Due to a combination of factors, namely the earlier stage of the Chinese space sector, and the dominance of SOEs in sub-sectors such as space exploration, China does not, at least to now, have a “Chinese version of SpaceX” that can launch taikonauts and cargo to the space station.

就中国而言，商业太空探索更为有限。受中国航天处在早期阶段、国有企业在航天等子行业的主导地位等综合因素的影响，目前中国还没有一个“中国版的SpaceX”可以做到向空间站发射航天员和货物。

But this is beginning to change, with a handful of companies beginning to emerge, and perhaps more surprisingly, a number of government indicators that seem to show an openness to commercial space exploration missions. In 2022 and beyond, this is likely to pick up steam, and we may yet see a commercial Chinese company ferrying people (or more likely cargo) to/from the space station sooner rather than later.

但这种情况开始发生变化，一些公司开始出现，也许更令人惊讶的是，一系列政府指示似乎表明对商业太空探索任务持开放态度。在 2022 年及以后，这可能会加速发展，我们可能还会看到一家中国商业公司将对空间站运送或运回乘客（或更可能是货物）。


Origin Space, one of China’s leading commercial space exploration companies

起源空间，中国领先的商业太空探索公司之一

Space Exploration in China

中国的太空探索

If we consider space exploration at a high level, we could be talking about several things. For the purposes of this article, we will be referring to the Chinese Space Station, Lunar/Mars missions, commercial space science, and asteroid missions. In the case of China, space exploration, in general, is a pretty recent concept: the first mission beyond the Earth’s orbit was in 2007 with Chang’e 1 lunar orbiter, and the first Chinese space station prototype, the lightweight Tiangong-1 (~8500 kg), was launched in 2011.

如果我们从更高层次谈论太空探索，我们有很多东西讲。不过本文我们将提及中国空间站、月球/火星任务、商业空间科学和小行星任务。总体来说，对于中国而言太空探索是一个相当新的目标：第一次超越地球轨道的任务时在2007年的嫦娥一号月球轨道飞行器，和中国2011年的第一个小型空间站天宫一号（约8500kg）。

That being said, despite China’s late start to space exploration, we have seen a rapid acceleration, with an increasingly narrow gap between China and some of the leading space nations. Since the launch of Tiangong-1, China has launched two more space stations (the experimental Tiangong-2 and the permanent Chinese Space Station), and since the Chang’e-1, China has launched 4 more lunar missions (Chang’e 2-5). In the meantime, China also reached Mars in 2021 with the Tianwen-1 mission, become along the way the second nation to ever successfully land a rover on the Red Planet. Worth noting, an important enabler for these large-scale space exploration missions has been the entry into service of heavy-lift rockets (the Long March 5 and 5B).

话虽如此，尽管中国的太空探索起步较晚，但我们已经看到了极速的进展，中国与一些领先的太空国家之间的差距越来越小。自天宫一号发射以来，中国又发射了两个空间站（实验天宫二号和中国永久空间站），自嫦娥一号以来，中国又发射了四次探月任务（嫦娥二到五号)。与此同时，中国也于2021年伴随天问一号任务到达火星，成为赛道上第二个成功登陆火星的国家。值得注意的是，这些大型太空探索任务的一个重要推动因素是重型火箭（长征五号和五号乙）的投入使用。


A render of the ILRS, the future Sino-Russian lunar base. Source: CNSA

ILRS的渲染图，未来的中俄月球基地。资料来源：中国国家安全局

This pile of projects has led the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC, the main state-owned space contractor) to having a pretty full plate. The company conducted 48 launches in 2021, putting into orbit dozens of remote sensing satellites, a handful of large GEO commsats, various space science satellites, and of course the Tianhe-1 core module of the Chinese Space Station. This has opened the door for more commercial involvement in China’s space exploration sector.

这堆项目让中国航天科技集团公司（CASC，主要的国有航天承包商）拥有了相当完整的板块。该公司在 2021 年进行了 48 次发射，将数十颗遥感卫星、几颗大型 GEO 通信卫星、各种空间科学卫星，当然还有中国空间站的天河一号核心舱送入轨道。这为更多商业参与中国太空探索领域打开了大门。

The Beginnings of Commercialization

商业化的开端
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Over the past year or so, we have seen a small but increasing number of examples of commercialization in China’s space exploration missions. The first rumblings came about in early 2021, when we saw the China Manned Spaceflight Agency (CMSA) make an announcement calling for diversification of cargo supply mechanisms for the Chinese Space Station, and in particular calling for the establishment of a “low-cost cargo transport method”.

在过去一年左右的时间里，我们看到中国太空探索任务商业化的例子不多，但正在增长。2021 年初，中国载人航天局（CMSA）发布公告，要求中国空间站的货物供应机制多样化，特别是要求建立“低成本货运”的运输方式”。

The announcement came just a few months before the launch of Tianhe-1, and included specifications from CMSA for the low-cost cargo spacecraft, including:
1.Payload capacity of 1-4 tons
2.Cargo should be delivered within 45 days of validation of payload
3.The cargo spacecraft must be able to de-orbit a payload of 100-300kg of waste in a controlled manner
4.Costs for the spacecraft need to be aligned with international standards.

该公告是在天河一号发射前几个月发布的，其中包括 中国载人航天局对低成本货运飞船的规格，包括：
1.有效载荷1-4吨
2.货物应在有效载荷验证后 45 天内交付
3.货运飞船必须能够以可控的方式使 100-300 公斤的有效载荷脱离轨道
4.货运飞船必须能够以可控的方式使 100-300 公斤的有效载荷脱离轨道
The low-cost commercial cargo spacecraft dreams of the CMSA may have started to be answered in August of last year, when Chinese commercial startup Interspace Explore (北京星际开发) raised tens of millions of RMB in an angel round of funding. The company was actually founded back in 2018, but apparently began developing a prototype of its Zengzhang-1 spacecraft at the beginning of 2021, around the same time as the aforementioned CMSA announcement. The timing may have been coincidental, but it seems possible that Interspace Explore was encouraged by the announcement for low-cost cargo spacecraft (besides, how many other buyers of the Zengzhang-1 might there even be in China in the short-medium term?).
CMSA的低成本商业货运飞船梦想可能在去年8月开始实现，当时中国商业创业公司Interspace Explore（北京星际开发）获得了数千万元的天使轮融资。该公司实际上成立于 2018 年，但他们显然是在 2021 年初开始开发其增长一号航天器的原型，大约与上述 CMSA 公告同时进行。时机可能是巧合，但低成本货运飞船的公告似乎鼓舞了该公司（此外，在中短期内中国可能还有其他“增长一号”买家？ ）。

Interspace Explore’s Zengzhang-1
Interspace Explore has some pretty big ambitions for the Zengzhang-1, and some pretty high expectations for commercial cargo transport demand more generally. The company’s Zengzhang-1 is designed to carry 350kg of cargo to the CSS, and return 100kg, and they expect demand to be 5-10 missions per year of carrying cargo down from the CSS, starting in 2022. The company plans for a test of their Zengzhang-1 this year, having signed an agreement with Galactic Energy in August 2021 for launch services. Their faith in Galactic Energy seems to have been rewarded with Galactic Energy’s successful 2nd launch of the Ceres-1 in late 2021, several months after the agreement with Interspace Explore.

北京星际开发对增长一号有相当大的野心，对商业货物运输需求也有相当高的期望。该公司的增长一号设计用于向 CSS 运送 350 公斤货物，并返回 100 公斤东西，他们预计从 2022 年开始，每年从 CSS 运送货物的需求为 5-10 次。在2021 年 8 月与银河能源签署了发射服务协议后，该公司计划今年进行测试他们的增长一号。他们对银河能源的信心似乎得到了回报，因为银河能源在与北京星际开发达成协议几个月后，于 2021 年底成功发射了谷神星1号 。

Interspace Explore’s customers include companies planning space pharmaceutical and space agriculture applications, and their funding round included financing from Innoangel Fund, a significant VC that has put money into a variety of space companies including Space Pioneer (aka Tianbing Aerospace) and Spacety.

北京星际开发的客户包括计划实施太空制药和太空农业应用的公司，他们的融资轮包括来自 Innoangel Fund 的融资，Innoangel Fund 是一家重要的风险投资公司，已将资金投入到包括 Space Pioneer（又名天兵航天）和 Spacety 在内的各种太空公司。

Other initial areas of commercialization involving LEO exploration include space medicine and agriculture. Rocket Pi, a latecomer to the launch sector having been founded in 2021, is developing its Darwin-1 rocket with biology experiments in micro-gravity in mind as a major end market.

涉及近地轨道探索的其他初步商业化领域包括太空医学和农业。Rocket Pi是发射领域的后来者，成立于 2021 年，它正在开发其 Darwin-1 火箭，并将微重力生物学实验作为主要终端市场。

Mining Commercial Companies for Innovation

创新的矿采商业公司

Space mining is one of the more far-off, but potentially strategically important areas of commercial space exploration. A variety of companies in the west have been developing hardware to mine valuable resources from asteroids, with this having been a small but growing trend for some time.

太空采矿是商业太空探索中较为遥远但具有潜在战略重要性的领域之一。西方的各种公司一直在开发硬件以从小行星上开采宝贵的资源。近年来，这一直是一个较小但在增长的趋势。
In China, it has been more recent, with the first commercial space mining company, Origin Space (起源太空), having raised its first round of funding in 2019. The Shenzhen-based company hopes to lead China’s space mining efforts in a market that they see as important for China to win its share of. The CEO of Origin Space Yu Tianhong, noted that the goal of Origin Space is for China to not be left behind in the battle for space resources.
在中国，这方面要更晚，第一家商业太空采矿公司Origin Space（起源太空）在 2019 年筹集了第一轮资金。这家总部位于深圳的公司希望在一个市场上引领太空采矿工作，他们认为中国赢得这份市场很重要。起源太空CEO喻天弘表示，起源太空的目标是让中国在太空资源争夺战中不落伍。

The company has already launched a few satellites and spacecraft, most notably its NEO-01, in April 2021. Up to now, these spacecraft aim at surveying asteroids around the solar system, trying to identify those of interest for future mining activities. In the meantime, however, there has been some interesting commercialization going on, with the company selling its asteroid scanning data to other companies that might be interested in using it for a variety of purposes, including gathering information for asteroid mining.

该公司已于 2021 年 4 月发射了几颗卫星和航天器，其中最著名的是 NEO-01。到目前为止，这些航天器的目标是测量太阳系周围的小行星，试图确定对未来采矿活动有益的小行星。然而，一些有趣的商业活动正在进行中，该公司将其小行星扫描数据出售给可能有兴趣将其用于各种目的的其他公司，包括为小行星矿采收集信息。

Origin Space’s founding team is one of China’s most impressive, with the two co-founders having done a PhD in Astrophysics at Harvard, and an Earth Science Fellowship at NASA, respectively. The two co-founders are relatively young, and have access to some of China’s top VCs.

起源太空的创始团队是中国最令人印象深刻的团队之一，两位联合创始人分别获得了哈佛天体物理学博士学位和美国宇航局地球科学奖学金。两位联合创始人都比较年轻，接触过一些中国顶级的风险投资人。



Yangwang-1 Launched by Origin Space

起源太空发射的仰望1号
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Moving forward, Origin Space also has plans for cleaning up space junk, developing asteroid defense technology, and harnessing asteroids, bringing them back to the Earth’s vicinity, and harvesting their resources. In short, quite a list of things that, as recently as just a few years ago, would have been unquestionably state-run in the Chinese context.

展望未来，起源太空还计划清理太空垃圾、开发小行星防御技术、捕获小行星，将它们带回地球附近，并回收它们的资源。简而言之，有很多目标。而在几年前，在中国的背景下无疑是国有企业才会在做。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


The Future of China’s Commercial Space Exploration

中国商业航天探索的未来

In just a couple of decades, China has gone from effectively no presence in space exploration to being one of the world leaders, led by a large and comprehensive state sector. But just as the west began to see commercial space exploration companies begin to flourish a decade or more ago, China has begun to see the emergence of a nascent commercial space exploration sector.

在短短几十年的时间里，由一个庞大而综合的国有部门领导下，中国已经从实际上没有参与太空探索发展成为世界领导者之一。但正如西方在十年或更长时间前开始看到商业太空探索公司开始蓬勃发展的前景一样，中国也开始看到新兴的商业太空探索部门的出现。

The next few years are certain to see growth in China’s space exploration ambitions, with the country’s recent 2021 Space White Paper outlining some major projects, and with ambitious plans in CASC’s pipelines for bigger rockets that could enable larger-scale space exploration. At the same time, literally, dozens of launch companies have emerged, with some of them close to the point of offering launch services. A variety of cities and companies have developed satellite manufacturing industrial bases, with the goal of industrializing and commercializing space technologies.

未来几年，中国的太空探索雄心肯定会增长，该国最近发布的 2021 年太空白皮书概述了一些重大项目，并且 CASC 雄心勃勃的计划是建造更大的火箭，以实现更大规模的太空探索。与此同时，从字面上看，已经出现了数十家发射公司，其中一些已经接近提供发射服务的地步。各种城市和公司都发展了卫星制造产业基地，目标是实现空间技术的产业化和商业化。

All of these things will continue to drive down the price of access to space, and an increase in the possibilities for commercial space exploration. Companies like Origin Space and Interspace Explore are leading the charge for China’s commercial space exploration sector, but they are certain to not be the last ones entering the fight.

所有的这些都将继续降低进入太空的成本，并增加商业太空探索的可能性。像Origin Space和Interspace Explore这样的公司在中国商业太空探索领域处于领先地位，但它们肯定不会是最后一个加入战斗的公司。

原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处