Tens of thousands of participants in Chi Jun are all "Beidou"
Chi Jun
Commander-in-chief of the Beidou-3 satellite of the 5th Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
In 2004, when he was 37 years old, he was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the communication satellite model, and then he served as the commander-in-chief of the Sino 3 communication satellite.
Since 2009, he has been appointed as the commander-in-chief of this major model Beidou-3.
So far, a total of 27 satellites have been developed.
The imaginary excitement never came.
The mission has been successful for more than two months, and Chi Jun faced the visiting reporters and found it strange to recall his mentality during this period.
On June 23 this year, the last Beidou-3 networking satellite was successfully launched.
After about two and a half years, China has intensively launched 30 Beidou-3 satellites at the fastest speed and built the world's advanced satellite navigation system, which saved half a year from the original plan.
As the commander-in-chief of the Beidou-3 satellite, Chi Jun has been at the helm of this team for 11 years, and now he can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Since taking office as the commander-in-chief in 2009, he has hardly stopped running.
After the intense technical research, we entered a more intense network launch. Now we are starting the demonstration of the next-generation Beidou-4 without stopping. The tasks are always one after another without breathing.
The Beidou-3 system is a huge satellite constellation. Each satellite is composed of hundreds of thousands of components, and they operate continuously.
The people who built this system seem to have formed a huge machine on the ground. Everyone is constantly running at all stages of development, launch, and application.
Chi Jun is a component on this machine.
Final launch in the epidemic
It seems that nothing can stop Chi Jun, and neither will the new crown.
Just after the Spring Festival this year, the epidemic of new crown pneumonia was on the rise. Chi Jun and a group of colleagues became "retrogrades" and rushed to the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan.
The last networked satellite of the Beidou-3 system is scheduled to be launched in the first half of the year. As the captain of the launch test team, Chi Jun proposed a goal: launch missions and fight the epidemic to "double victory."
Unexpectedly, in March and April, China Aerospace suffered two launch failures, one of which was in Xichang, which is the Changsanjia series rocket that will launch Beidou-3.
Immediately, the Beidou-3 test team also carried out a major quality rectification, and comprehensively reviewed the quality of rockets and satellites.
This was the time when Chi Jun was under the greatest pressure during the entire networking process. The Beidou-3's final mission and the first go-around after the failure of the Changsanjia series rocket overlapped, and the eyes of the space system were all on them.
At the beginning, the focused gaze made Chi Jun a lot of pressure, but later, "the more I checked, the more confident I was", and the risks were repeatedly investigated until every solder joint was reliable.
In such a stressful state all the year round, Chi Jun has no great sadness and joy, he consciously keeps himself sober and calm.
Because excessive tension will affect normal thinking, there have been people who have made operational mistakes due to tension.
As the commander-in-chief, he is also the backbone of the stability of the military, and cannot influence others with emotions.
In June, there was another delay until the launch of the official announcement satellite.
The satellite waited and waited and finally launched on June 23rd.
The Beidou-3's two-and-a-half years network trip was extremely smooth. This was the most ups and downs of launch, adding some stories at the last moment.
The signal cannot be interrupted for one second
There are some things we have become accustomed to.
For example, whenever you turn on the TV, you can see the program, even if it is a boring advertisement; or you can always rely on navigation while driving, from the starting point to the ending point.
We hardly imagine what it would be like if one day the TV suddenly lost its signal, the entire screen went black, or the arrow that located our location disappeared from the map.
Television and navigation signals rely on satellites in the sky.
From the perspective of those who manufacture and maintain these satellites, it may be a matter of minutes when a satellite encounters a malfunction.
A certain key part of hundreds of thousands of components has ceased operation, space junk suddenly hits the satellite, and certain high-radiation particles in the space environment intrude into the star, which may cause the satellite to stop service.
At the same time, the entire country and even a certain service in the hemisphere on the ground was shut down.
Chi Jun’s pressure came from here-he knew the operation of the system too well.
After graduating from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1990, he entered the 5th Academy of Aerospace Engineering.
After both technical and managerial positions, he was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the communication satellite model in 2004 at the age of 37, and then he was the commander-in-chief of three satellites including the Sino 3 communication satellite.
In 2009, the Beidou-3 satellite project was established and he was appointed as the commander-in-chief of this major model. It has been 11 years.
He personally managed the development of 27 satellites.
When developing the Xinnuo-3 satellite, Chi Jun experienced the pressure of satellite development.
Xinnuo 3 is used for radio and television signal transmission. When watching TV, he thought that if something went wrong with this satellite in the sky, the TV screens of thousands of households would be blacked out, and the pressure in his heart increased sharply.
"At that time, I deeply realized that no matter what type of satellite, including commercial satellites and civilian satellites, the requirements are not lower than that of scientifically explored spacecraft, because it serves all the public, and the problem will be exposed to everyone's eyes." When Beidou-3 was developed, this experience was even deeper.
The purpose of a satellite navigation system is not only a literal navigation guide, it is used almost everywhere.
Because the navigation system provides a time reference and high-precision location, time and location are almost the basis of all economic and social activities.
For example, in the northeast farmland, Beidou terminals are now installed on planters and harvesters. After planning the path in advance, they will automatically start to work, greatly improving agricultural production efficiency.
In the financial industry, transaction time needs to be extremely precise, and if it differs from a foreign bank by a few tenths of a second, it will cause huge losses.
In the past, we could only rely on foreign satellite systems to provide such precise timing. Now Beidou-3 has achieved it.
How to apply each industry requires departments and enterprises in the industry to use their imagination to develop corresponding terminals and software.
For example, Chi Jun said that some companies have already developed positioning terminals for the elderly. Family members can see the location of the elderly in real time on the App to prevent forgetful elderly people from getting lost.
The basis of all this is the continuous and stable free signal provided by the Beidou-3 satellite system, which cannot be interrupted for one second.
Participants all over the country, at least tens of thousands
The Beidou-3 development team is centered on the Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and radiates various supporting units across the country.
Since the establishment of the project in 2009, Chi Jun has researched all the leading component companies in the country, and he often surprised him: it turns out that domestic companies are already so good.
"I feel very proud. It might not be realistic to do this 10 or 20 years ago, but in the past few years, the country's basic industry has advanced by leaps and bounds. With a large environment and foundation, Beidou can do it, otherwise. It's a fantasy."
Especially in some areas that have not broken through for a long time, progress has been made in recent years.
For example, a high-power microwave switch for Beidou satellites has always been a problem.
After the Beidou 3 project was established, a research institute of the Ninth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group took the initiative to approach the door, saying that they had been tackling key problems for many years. Chi Jun and his colleagues looked at the product and found that the basic capabilities were excellent.
After continued research and development and testing, it finally successfully replaced foreign products.
The Beidou No. 3 team's assessment of products is stricter than that of foreign countries.
This kind of microwave switch may only be used a few times in the lifetime of a satellite, but each product has undergone millions of ground tests and passed it again and again.
There are also some private enterprises that have reached the global leading level in some technologies.
These results made Chi Jun feel that it is feasible to realize the full localization of the core components of Beidou-3.
At the beginning, the research and development funds were not yet in place, and some enterprises, including private enterprises, paid out of their own pockets to develop components in accordance with the requirements of Beidou III.
"If these people and time are used to do other projects, they will earn more, but they think the national mission is the most important." These companies and R&D personnel moved Chi Jun.
Different from the relationship between Party A and Party B, the core team of Beidou-3 regards these suppliers as part of the team.
When a supplier encounters a problem, they think of a solution together.
For a while, the Ninth Institute of Aerospace Science and Technology Group encountered problems in the research and development of high-power microwave switches. Because the units were close, Xie Jun, chief designer of the Beidou-3 satellite, went directly to the other unit after dinner to find the cause together.
Later, on the last day of the original delivery time limit, after working day and night, the director of the institute personally rushed to deliver the microwave switch products, without delaying the development of the day.
In Nanjing, an enterprise supporting the research and development of traveling wave tubes burnt out several products in a high-power test.
In order to find out why, some girls in the team postponed the wedding date, and some prospective fathers could not witness the birth of the child.
"All of these moved me very much and established a very trusting relationship." Chi Jun said. Speaking of the Beidou-3 team, he thinks not only of the R&D team of the Fifth Academy, but all the people involved.
These participants are all over the country, at least tens of thousands.
All "shortcuts" are blocked
The network of Beidou-3 must be as fast as possible.
The battle line is stretched too long, and the satellite is like a waste of life.
For example, if it is completed in 5 years, the first batch of satellites will only have half the lifespan when the network is successfully officially opened.
Therefore, Beidou-3 opened an unprecedented dense networking in my country's aerospace history.
This process has also greatly promoted the improvement of my country's satellite design and manufacturing capabilities.
Chi Jun said that Beidou 3 has used the assembly line method of other industrial industries to form a batch production model.
At most, there are 12 satellites in the workshop at the same time during the final assembly test.
At the same time, due to the application of the automated test system, manpower is liberated, and 12 satellites require less than 10 staff to cooperate with the machine to operate smoothly in the factory.
More modern methods have entered the development of Beidou-3, which has reshaped the satellite production model to a certain extent.
Assembly lines, automation, remote collaboration, flexible manufacturing... Many methods that were considered unsuitable for precision products like satellites have been customized and introduced into satellite manufacturing.
"If there are such large-scale missions in the future, this model will definitely be used, and Beidou-3 will explore this path." Chi Jun said.
Since the establishment of the Beidou No. 3 project in 2009, a goal has been established: all parts and components are domestically produced and cannot be controlled by others.
Chi Jun said that for many years, China's aerospace development has been unable to get rid of imports.
Beidou chose the path of self-reliance.
From the beginning, all "shortcuts" were blocked.
For example, the traveling wave tube that has plagued China's aerospace industry for many years.
This is the key component used on the satellite to amplify the signal. The Beidou-3 has been procured from abroad before.
In the Beidou-3 project, the traveling wave tube was specially developed. Before the Beidou-3 test satellite was launched in 2015, it had the conditions to fly into the sky.
At this time, it happened that foreign suppliers were restricting exports of Beidou-3. Chi Jun was resolute at that time and said: Then return the goods.
Today, Beidou-3 has achieved 100% domestic production of on-board equipment-level products.
Chi Jun said that it is not to pursue this number. Some foreign non-core supporting products are cheap and easy to use, and the cooperation foundation is also very good. Beidou will also adopt it.
"We still have to integrate into the international market. Beidou is an open system."
The construction of Beidou-3, an unprecedented system, is a valuable asset left in the future. Chi Jun believes that it is a large number of suppliers with localized technology and aerospace level.
Many Beidou-3 supporting units participated in space missions for the first time.
Products used in heaven must be foolproof once they leave the factory.
Traditional aerospace companies have explored a set of aerospace quality management experience, and the mission of the aerospace personnel is to extend this method to suppliers.
Now, some Beidou-3 supporting enterprises have started to export their products.
Chi Jun believes that this is a major contribution of the Beidou-3 project: it has pushed the country's "aerospace basic industry" forward.
This is the point that makes him most proud.
The end is also the beginning
In the past three years, Chi Jun has spent almost half of his time in Xichang.
This became the place he was most familiar with.
The Xichang Satellite Launch Center is located in the Col of Daliang Mountain. Although it has been in use for almost 40 years and has launched more than 100 rockets, it still maintains the simplest appearance.
Except for the launch site, test plant, and accommodation area, there are almost no other facilities. It is more than half an hour's drive from the nearest urban area.
If there is a little free time after work, he will use it to exercise.
The air in the mountains is good, and he also needs to deal with high-intensity work through exercise.
The Beidou-3 scientific research team of the Fifth Academy of the Aerospace Science and Technology Group is known as the "Beidou Iron Army" because of the many difficulties and long fronts.
The Iron Army also had moments of tenderness.
Around 2014, the Beidou-3 project was in the stage of launching test satellites, which was the most difficult period for core technology research.
Some trials last for a long time and cannot do without people.
Chi Jun spent two years on New Year's Eve in his work unit.
Some colleagues were not assigned tasks, and they brought their children to the unit to eat a simple collective New Year’s Eve dinner and stand with their colleagues.
Because of Beidou 3, Chi Jun missed many important moments in the family, such as his son's college entrance examination.
In the first half of 2017, Chi Jun went to the launch center to prepare for the first launch of Beidou-3.
The son has grown accustomed to his father's work rhythm since he was a child, and told him sensibly: "The national task is the top priority, no problem, don't worry!"
After the successful launch of Beidou-3, Chi Jun participated in the recording of a CCTV program. The host finally asked him to say a few words, and he chose to express his gratitude to the aerospace family.
After the Beidou-3 mission was completed, he returned to Beijing. Chi Jun and his colleagues from the test team met again at the unit.
The demonstration of the next-generation Beidou-4 navigation satellite has begun again.
The world's four major satellite navigation systems are all iteratively developing continuously.
Although Beidou 3 has just been completed, it must be researched and updated.
At present, some key next-generation technology research directions have been determined. If we do not start now, the Beidou-3 will lag behind the world's latest systems in a few years.
The machine on the ground was still running, and Chi Jun still couldn't stop.
Craftsman's Words
1 What do you think is the most cherished thing in your achievements?
Chi Jun: It should be the Beidou system construction.
Personally, I don’t have so many thoughts. If this system can be built particularly well in this life, it will be fine. It is enough to do this.
2 What do you hope to achieve in the future?
What are your expectations for the future?
Chi Jun: The completion of the Beidou-3 system is a starting point for me.
Our goal has been placed on the Beidou-4, to build the Beidou-4 into the best navigation system in the world.
Now the Beidou-3 is still not the best. Although some performance indicators are the best in the world, other navigation systems are about to be updated to the next generation.
So in this process, we have to redouble our efforts.
Ingenuity
Before the final launch, Chi Jun also imagined how happy he would be after a complete success.
But after the launch, the orbit must be changed, and the test must be performed after the orbit change. After all is completed, the momentum has passed.
"One stage is worried about one stage."
In the daily high-pressure state, he is like a perpetual motion machine, completely relaxed state, perhaps never before.
Beijing News reporter Ni Wei