The smart production line in the nearly 4,000-square-meter factory in Tianjin, northern China, applies new technology to install cables, shortening satellite production time from half a year to 20 days.
Here, mechanical arms and autonomous vehicles operate primarily, requiring very little human intervention, thereby increasing production efficiency by more than 40%.
The smart production line is capable of producing 240 small satellites weighing less than one ton per year.
During the production process, the machines can automatically use the control process, the analysis data and operating results are sent to the terminal for real-time control, realizing the transformation of satellite production to data-driven and mass production of customized satellites.
Each satellite consists of many cables in many different layers, so cable assembly is one of the most difficult problems in satellite manufacturing. To solve this problem, researchers developed a digital guidance system, each process is projected onto the satellite so that workers can assemble the cables step by step.
Each production point is designed to have a working time of 1.5 days. If this time is exceeded, subsequent products cannot be processed on time, affecting the overall production capacity.
The first satellite was produced in May last year, marking the beginning of China's mass production.