Rebirth: Starting from Lighting Up the Tech Tree

Chapter 179 Order Explosion

When Zuo Cheng entered the business office, Liu Wei was showing three people a projection screen.

The screen displays a table with forty-seven rows, each representing a business inquiry. The left side shows the client's name, the middle their description, and the right side their initial priority. There are twelve rows in red, twenty in yellow, and fifteen in green.

"What does red mean?" Zuo Cheng asked.

"Those with high interest have clear launch needs and budgets," Liu Wei said. "Those in yellow have needs but their budgets or timelines are uncertain. Those in green are inquiring about potential opportunities."

"And then what happened?"

"Of the twelve companies listed as 'Red,' eight requested a conference call today, and four said they'd fly to Hangzhou tomorrow for face-to-face talks." Liu Wei pulled up another spreadsheet. "Conservatively speaking, if all of them sign, the total contract value will exceed five billion."

Zuo Cheng pulled up a chair and sat down. Five billion, equivalent to 1.5 times 402's total revenue last year. Moreover, these orders are for rocket launch services, which have a much higher gross profit margin than hardware products.

"Where do your clients come from?"

"Three categories," Han Lu said, holding a prepared report. "The first category is domestic clients, satellite companies and telecommunications operators. The second category is Asian clients, including those from Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The third category is European clients, research institutions."

"To be specific."

"The biggest domestic order is for Jiutian Satellite, which will launch six low-orbit communication satellites within the next eighteen months, weighing a total of about four tons. This order alone is worth 240 million yuan." Han Lu turned a page. "Then there's the China Academy of Sciences Space Center, which needs to launch an experimental satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit and is willing to pay a premium."

What about internationally?

"A Malaysian communications satellite company needs to launch a three-ton broadcast satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. They originally planned to use a European Space Agency rocket, but the launch date was two years in advance. Our quote was 40% lower than theirs." Han Lu turned another page. "And a telecommunications group in the Middle East needs two satellites."

Zuo Cheng looked at the table. SpaceX had driven down launch prices, but scheduling remained tight. Blue Origin was still experiencing delays. The European Space Agency's rockets were expensive and slow. The emergence of 402 perfectly filled a market gap.

"What are the screening criteria?" Zuo Cheng asked.

"Three conditions must be met. First, the payload specifications must match the carrying capacity of the Cangqiong-1 satellite, weighing no more than ten tons into low Earth orbit. Second, the launch date must be no earlier than three months from now. Third, the prepayment ratio must be no less than 30%," Liu Wei said. "Currently, there are twenty companies that meet these three conditions."

"Twenty potential clients, with a total contract value estimated at five to seven billion."

Three days ago, 402's commercial space business had zero revenue. Three days later, the potential order size has already exceeded the company's total revenue for the entire previous year.

"Arrange the signings," Zuo Cheng said. "For the first batch, select three of the most representative companies: one domestic, one Asian, and one European. Announce the signings immediately, so the market can see that we're not just good at launching rockets; we can also consistently secure orders."

The signing ceremony is scheduled for three days from now.

The venue was chosen to be the exhibition hall of the 402 headquarters. The background wall was changed to a dark blue starry sky pattern, with a life-size model of the Sky One in the center. A simple signing table was set up in the exhibition hall, covered with dark gray velvet.

Representatives from the three clients arrived one after another.

The first company was the business director of Jiutian Satellite, a domestic company, surnamed He, in his forties. The second company was the vice president of technology of a Malaysian communications satellite company, a Chinese engineer in his fifties named Pan Jiangtao. The third company was the procurement manager of the European Meteorological Satellite Organization, a German woman named Eileen, with whom we communicated through a translator.

The signing ceremony is scheduled for 10:00 a.m.

Zuo Cheng stood behind the signing stage. More than forty reporters sat below, along with industry observers who had come from all over. Han Lu served as the host.

"Today, 402 Technology officially signed its first batch of commercial launch service contracts." Her voice echoed in the exhibition hall, "This marks the transition of my country's private commercial aerospace industry from the verification stage to the commercial operation stage."

Mr. He was the first to sign the contract: "Jiutian Satellite chose to cooperate with 402 not only because of its competitive price, but also because 402 provides a complete solution. From satellite adaptation to launch window scheduling, and then to post-orbit tracking and control support, this vertical integration capability is something you can't find with traditional launch service providers."

applause.

Chen Minghui was the second to sign. He said in Chinese, "Malaysia needs cheaper space access capabilities. The quote from 402 made our project budget possible, turning something impossible into a reality."

Eileen, speaking through a translator, said, "The European Meteorological Organization has been looking for a diverse range of launch providers. The successful launch of 402 proves your capabilities, and we look forward to our first collaboration."

After the three companies signed the agreement, Zuo Cheng stood up and shook hands with each of the three client representatives for a photo. A flurry of camera flashes followed.

After the ceremony, Zuo Cheng called his core team to the conference room. Liu Wei placed a stack of documents on the table: "Three contracts, totaling 860 million. Thirty percent prepayment, due within a week."

Li Guodong frowned: "But there's a problem."

"What's the problem?"

"Production capacity." Li Guodong pulled up a factory schedule. "The Sky Dome II won't be ready for delivery for another two months, and the third and fourth will take another three to four months. Even if we only sign contracts with these three companies, the earliest we can expect is three months from now. And some of the clients still waiting in line to sign contracts have launch windows in the first half of next year."

"so what?"

"So if we don't expand production capacity, we'll have to reject these orders," Li Guodong said. "Based on the current factory capacity, we can deliver a maximum of six rockets in the next twelve months. But for orders that are already confirmed, at least fifteen launches are needed."

The meeting room fell silent.

The ratio is 15 to 6, with a gap of more than double.

Zuo Cheng stood up and walked to the whiteboard.

"Two questions," he picked up his pen. "First, can the existing production capacity be optimized? Second, if expansion is needed, how much money and how long will it take?"

"There's limited room for optimization in existing production capacity," said Li Guodong. "The bottleneck lies in the rocket body welding and final assembly stages, and the large-scale equipment and cleanrooms required cannot be increased in the short term."

"What about expansion?"

"We're building a new factory with a fully automated production line, capable of assembling four rockets simultaneously. The investment is approximately two billion yuan, and the construction period is eighteen months," said Li Guodong. "We're starting planning now, and production should begin in the first half of the year after next."

Zuo Cheng wrote a number on the whiteboard: Two billion.

"Money isn't the problem," he said. "The problem is time. Eighteen months is too long; the market window can't wait."

He put down his pen and turned to look at his team.

"Reassess. Is it possible to upgrade and expand the existing factory to increase production capacity to twelve units per year?"

Li Guodong thought for a moment: "Theoretically, it's possible, but we'll need to increase shifts, introduce more automated welding equipment, and expand the final assembly plant. The investment will be about 800 million yuan, with a timeframe of six months."

"That's what we'll do then," Zuo Cheng said. "We'll upgrade and expand production while simultaneously selecting a site to build a new factory."

He looked out the window. The afternoon sun in Hangzhou was just right.

Orders are coming in, more and faster than expected. The question now is whether we can build the rocket before the orders turn into complaints.