As the launch of the first of Geely’s satellites draws ever closer, the production facility in Taizhou, China is given the go ahead.
Geely Technology Group knows how to start the Lunar New Year right – with important news regarding its future low-orbit exploits. On February 18th 2021, its Taizhou Facility was given its license to begin the commercial manufacturing of its satellites, which will be ultimately used for realizing Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to X-(V2X) communications to realize full autonomous self-driving.
The license, awarded by China’s National Development and Reform Commission, essentially means that the factory, located in Geely Group’s original hometown of Taizhou in Zhejiang Province, can begin production. When production begins, at present planned for October of this year, the facility will have an estimated production output of over 500 satellites per year.
In April of 2020, satellites as internet and connectivity provider were included under the category of “New Infrastructure”. Geely Technology Group saw this as an opportunity to establish the industrial chain – R&D, design, manufacturing, launch and market application – of its own satellite network.
The factory in Taizhou Bay is the first of its kind in China. Much like Geely’s BMA and CMA-platform production facilities, utilizes modular technology, and will incorporate both the mass assembly and testing of new satellites. Satellite R&D, core component manufacturing, measurement and control, aerospace materials, cloud computing big data platform, etc. will all be handled onsite.
Geely Technology Group’s satellite constellation will be instrumental in improving a range of mobility services including Internet of Vehicles and autonomous driving, including V2X (vehicle-to-everything) communications.
Rendering of the Taizhou Satellite Facility
Xu Zhihao, CEO of Geely Technology Group, said that satellite manufacturing is crucial for the entire satellite industry chain and the Taizhou facility will meet the development needs of this rapidly developing industry, including shortening development cycles of micro-satellites, faster technology updates, and more functionality.
The launch of Geely’s first satellites is planned for the first half of 2021.