太空--中国初创企业和投资家最后的边疆

随着SpaceX的成功与中国相关政策的开放，小型航天器发射服务商零壹空间（onespace）获得热点关注，香港第一大英文报刊《南华早报》以整版的形式报道后，海外媒体纷纷转发、业界反响强烈。为力求原意，本文将以中英对照的形式方便阅读。

　　Space the final frontier for Chinese start-ups and venture capitalists

　　Experts say state-run space programme is among the most expensive in the world, opening up opportunities for private investment

　　专家说，国营太空计划是世界上最贵的项目，它是开放式的私人投资机会。

　　Space is a frontier that could soon fall to privately funded Chinese start-ups looking for commercial opportunities created by the sky-high costs of the state-run space programme, which one expert describes as “probably the most expensive in the world”.

　　太空是一个前沿领域，可能很快就会出现私人资助的中国初创企业，从专家形容为“世界上最贵的”高成本的国营太空计划中寻找商业机会。

　　Visitors to the simple but sleek website of Beijing-based One Space Technology are greeted with the slogan “We create space express”.

　　北京零壹空间网站用简单亲切的口号“让太空之旅像打车一样便捷”来迎接访客。

　　With its first commercial rocket launch scheduled for 2018, the private aerospace company has vowed to become China’s version of US rocket launch firm SpaceX, with a low-cost launch vehicle that would “make a space journey as convenient as hailing a cab”.

　　凭借2018年其首个商用火箭发射计划，民营航空公司发誓要成为美国火箭发射公司SpaceX的中国版，运用低成本的运载火箭， 让太空之旅像打车一样便捷。

　　In the short-term the launch cost can be reduced to 50 per cent of the ‘national team’, and just one-tenth in the long run.---Qi Shiyang, Chun Xiao Capital

　　在短期内，发射成本可以降低到“国家队”的50%，而从长远来看，发射成本只有十分之一 ——春晓资本祁诗扬

　　A key investor in One Space was Legend Holdings, the mother company of Lenovo, the world’s largest personal computer maker, which owns a substantial but unspecified share of the company through its venture capital fund Legend Star, One Space’s website says. Other institutional shareholders include the HIT Robot Group at Harbin Institute of Technology, China’s top space technology research university, and internet-based venture capital firms such as Chun Xiao Capital and Land Stone Capital.

　　零壹空间的一个关键投资者是联想控股，它是联想公司的母亲公司，是世界上最大的个人电脑制造商，通过其风险投资基金“联想之星”， 该公司拥有大量但未指明的股份，零壹空间的网站如是说。其他机构的股东包括哈工大机器人集团，哈工大是中国顶尖的空间技术研究大学，还有互联网投资公司如春晓资本和陆石资本。

　　Qi Shiyang, a spokesman for Beijing-based Chun Xiao, said its strategic investment in the space sector had been “welcomed and encouraged” by government.

　　春晓资本北京总部发言人祁诗扬说，空间领域的战略投资受到了政府的欢迎和鼓励。

　　The commercial satellite business in China had recently been “fully opened” by the authorities to private companies, he said.

　　他介绍，中国的商业卫星业务最近被当局向私人公司“全面开放”。

　　Due to the strong demand for satellites in the industrial and commercial sectors, China’s small and micro satellite market would soon see explosive growth, Qi said. The strong demand for satellites, which far exceeded the existing launch resources, had created a capital market opportunity, he said.

　　“由于工业和商业领域对卫星的强烈需求，中国的微卫星市场将很快看到爆炸性的增长。”祁诗扬说，对卫星的强烈需求，远远超过了现有的发射资源，这创造了一个资本市场的机会。

　　One Space had built up a very strong team of rocket engineers and its chief executive, Shu Chang, was a pragmatic entrepreneur, which was another reason why Chun Xiao had invested in the start-up, Qi added.

　　零壹空间已经建立了一个非常强大的火箭工程师团队，它的首席执行官舒畅，是一个务实的企业家，这是春晓为什么领投的另一个因素，祁补充道。

　　“In the short-term the launch cost can be reduced to 50 per cent of the ‘national team’, and just one-tenth in the long run – very competitive,” he said.

　　“在短期内，发射成本可以降低到“国家队”的50%，而从长远来看，只有十分之一—这非常具有竞争力，”他说。

　　But Qi also raised a common concern among private investors. Most rocket launch pads in China are controlled by the military and access to such facilities is not easy.

　　但是祁也提出了民间投资者普遍关注的问题。大多数中国的火箭发射台是由军方控制的，使用这样的设施较为不易。

　　零壹空间创始人兼CEO舒畅（右2白衣）

　　One Space chief Shu graduated from Beihang University in 2008 with a major in aircraft design and later worked as an investment fund manager at Legend Holdings.

　　零壹空间首席执行官舒畅于2008年毕业于北京航空航天大学，主修飞机设计，后来成为联想控股的投资VP。

　　In an interview with New Seed, an online venture capital service platform in Beijing, Shu said target customers included high-end manufacturing industry, pharmaceutical companies and agriculture and mining businesses that were looking to space for the development of new products, new services and new resources.

　　在接受新投资界新芽（位于北京的一家VC服务平台）的采访时，舒畅说，目标客户包括高端制造业、医药企业、农业和矿业企业，这些企业正在寻找新产品，新服务和新资源的发展空间。

　　“We have strong evidence [of our ability] to become China’s SpaceX,” the website quoted Shu as saying.

　　“我们有很强的能力证明我们将会成为中国的SpaceX”，舒畅援引网站用语强调。

　　One Space is developing a three-stage rocket about the height of a seven-floor building at its headquarters in the hi-tech industry zone in Daxing, Beijing. It says the rocket will be able to lift a small satellite weighing up to 700kg into a 600km orbit at “very low cost”.

　　零壹空间正在北京大兴高新技术产业区总部开发一个七层楼高的三级火箭，据说，这枚火箭能够举起重达700kg的小卫星发射到600km轨道，而“成本却很低”。

　　Several other space start-ups have been funded by private investors in China in the past couple of years, including Shenzhen-based Link Space, which is developing sounding rockets for government and business clients, and Beijing-based Space Vision, which is focused on near-space tourism with the aim of becoming China’s answer to Virgin Galactic.

　　在过去几年里，中国的私人投资者已经在中国投资了几家其他的空间初创公司，包括总部位于深圳的翎客航天技术有限公司，其重点在于近太空旅游，它的目标是做中国版的维珍银河公司。

　　In 2007, China and Japan each sent an orbiter to the Moon. China’s Chang’e probe cost 1.4 billion yuan and Japans’ Selene 32 billion yen. Adjusted for purchasing power parity at the time, the actual cost of Chang’e was a third higher than the Japanese spacecraft.

　　在2007年，中国和日本各发射了一个轨道飞行器到月球。中国的“嫦娥一号”探月器成本为14亿元，日本的“塞勒涅号”探月器成本为320亿日元。调整为购买力平价的时间，嫦娥一号的成本要要高于“塞勒涅号”的三分之一。

　　“The space programme costs way too much in China,” said Professor Zong Qiugang, a researcher with the Institute of Space Physics and Applied Technology at Peking University. “Considering the relatively low wages of workers and researchers, it is probably the most expensive in the world.”

　　The costs were mainly driven up by the monopolies of state-owned or military-run companies in the traditional space industry. Without sufficient competition, the productivity and efficiency in the Chinese space industry was low in comparison to its counterparts in other nations, including India.

　　“中国的太空计划成本太大了。”宗秋刚是北京大学空间物理与应用技术研究所的研究员，他指出“考虑到工人和研究人员的工资水平相对较低，这可能是世界上最贵的”。成本主要由国有或军工企业对传统空间产业的垄断所造成，如果没有足够的竞争力，中国空间产业的生产率和效率与其他国家相比，包括与印度的同行相比，是比较低的。

　　“The price they charge customers is unreasonably high and the need to cut costs is urgent,” said Zong, who has worked with the US, European, Japanese and Chinese space agencies.

　　“他们收取的费用是不合理的，削减成本是迫切需要的，”宗说，他曾与美国、欧洲、日本和中国的空间机构共事过。

　　China’s space budget exceeded US$11 billion in 2013, making it the second largest in the world after the United States, according to an estimate by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

　　根据经济合作与发展组织(OECD)的估计，在2013年，中国的空间预算超过110亿美元，在全球排名第二，仅次于美国。

　　With the goal of becoming a new superpower in space, the Chinese government has ambitious plans for a space station and the exploration of Mars, to close the gap with the US and Russia.

　　But China fashioned its state-run space industry after that of the former Soviet Union. While that centralised structure worked for a poor country with limited resources, it came under increasing challenge from the private sector as the mainland economy grew to become the world’s second largest.

　　出于在太空中成为新的超级大国的目标，中国政府对太空站建设和火星探索有着雄心勃勃的计划，希望以此结束与美国和俄罗斯的差距。但在前苏联解体后，中国制造了“老式的”国营空间产业，国家结构集中、资源有限、贫乏，随着内地经济增长成为世界第二，来自私人企业的挑战不断增加。

　　Robin Li Yanhong, the founder and president of Baidu, China’s largest search engine, submitted a proposal to the National People’s Congress in 2014 urging the government to open up the space industry to private investors.

　　中国第一大搜索引擎百度的创始人兼总裁李彦宏，在2014年向全国人民代表大会提交了一项提案，敦促政府向私人投资者开放空间产业。

　　Without the participation of private companies, China’s space technology would not be able to compete with that of the US, Europe or Japan, Li said in the proposal.

　　如果没有私人公司的参与，中国的太空技术将无法与美国、欧洲或日本的竞争，李建议说。

　　His efforts bore fruit, with President Xi Jinping telling a meeting of high-ranking military officers last year that the involvement of private businesses in military-related industries would be prioritised as a “national strategy”.

　　他的努力有了结果，去年习近平主席在高级军官会议上强调，在军事相关产业，民营企业的参与将优先作为“国家战略”。

　　“It is a matter of national security and development,” the Communist Party mouthpiece People’ s Daily quoted Xi as saying.

　　“这是一个事关国家安全和发展的问题，”共产党的人民日报援引习近平的话说。

　　After decades of rapid economic development, China’s private business sector has accumulated enough technological know-how, research talent and financial strength to enter the space business, according to mainland space experts. Some were already important suppliers to the military.

　　内地空间专家称，经过几十年的快速发展，中国的私营企业为进入太空业务积累了足够的技术和诀窍，研究人才和资金实力。它们中的一些原本是重要的军事供应商。

　　One Space says on its website that it built up a sizable team of high-quality researchers in less than a year. More than a third of its researchers had PhDs and more than 80 per cent of its staff had more than five years of work experience in China’s top space companies and research institutes including China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, China Aviation Industry and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

　　Li Junwei, a rocket expert at Beijing Institute of Technology’s school of aerospace engineering, said private space companies such as One Space had generated a considerable buzz on campus.

　　零壹空间在其网站上说，在不到一年的时间里，它建立了一个庞大的团队，拥有高品质的研究人员。超过30%的研发员有博士学位，超过80%的员工具有航天相关行业5年以上工作经验，在中国的顶级空间公司和研究机构，包括中国航天科技集团公司，中国航天科工集团公司，中国航空工业和中国科学院。李军伟是北京理工大学航空航天工程学院的火箭专家，他认为私人空间公司如“零壹空间”在大学校园内产生了很大的反响。

　　“Many people are talking about it and many are interested in participating in this new business,” he said.

　　他说：“很多人都在谈论它，很多人都对参与这项新的业务感兴趣”。

　　Rocket technology had become very mature, with many details available in academic journals, and the government had gradually loosened up numerous regulatory restrictions to encourage private participation, Li said.

　　火箭技术已经变得非常成熟，在学术期刊上的许多详细的文章，政府已经逐渐放松了许多监管限制，鼓励私人参与，李说。

　　“In China today it is easier than ever to launch a private rocket, as long as you have the money,” he said.

　　“在今天的中国，比以往任何时候都更容易发射一个私人火箭，只要你有钱，”他说。

　　Professor Wang Bing, from Tsinghua University’s school of aerospace engineering, said the private players would speed up the adoption of new technology in China’s space programme.

　　“Private companies are less risk-averse and more willing to use the latest technology,” he said. “They are also smaller and more flexible, which will help technological innovation.”

　　来自清华大学航空航天工程学院的王兵教授说，私人“玩家”会加速新技术在中国太空计划中进行应用。

　　“由于私人企业的风险规避性，它们更愿意使用最新的技术，”他介绍。“它们也更小，更灵活，这将有助于技术创新。”

　　But there was no guarantee private investors would make a profit or even get their money back, the experts said.

　　但没有保证私人投资者一定会赚钱，甚至都不能保证他们投资的钱能拿的回来，专家如是说。

　　Space exploration was a high-risk business and investors should be prepared for failures in the early stages of projects, Wang said. Similar foreign companies such as SpaceX and Virgin Galactic had all dealt with many crashes.

　　太空探索是一个高风险的业务，企业和投资者应为项目早期阶段的失败做好准备，类似于国外同类企业，如SpaceX和维珍银河公司，都处理过很多的事故。

　　Shenzhen’s Link Space reported a failed test flight at the end of last year, with the rocket exploding in mid-air just seconds after launch.

　　深圳的翎客航天技术有限公司报道了去年年底的一次飞行试验失败，仅仅在发射升空几秒后，火箭就在半空中爆炸。

　　The satellites launched by private companies also tend to be very small. Such “microsatellites” are cheaper but their functionality and data quality is limited by their relatively short life spans.

　　“Space is not suitable for private companies aiming for quick cash,” Zong said. “You may wait years or even decades before seeing any return.

　　私人公司推出的卫星也往往是非常小的。这样的“微小”才会便宜，但它们的功能和数据质量受限于它们相对较短的寿命。

　　“空间不适用于需要快速现金流的私人公司，”宗秋刚透露。“你或许得等上几年甚至几十年才能看到回报。

　　“But those with patience and strength to stay will find unlimited opportunities.”

　　“但是那些有耐心和力量的人会发现无限的机会。”