Satellites like cars: China produces 3 hundreds of satellites a year on an assembly line
A Chinese team has shifted satellite production to a conveyor‑belt model, similar to car manufacturing, making it faster, more efficient and more cost‑effective. When a satellite is assembled like a car — moving from one station to the next, from component to component — space ceases to be the domain of bespoke craftsmanship. It becomes an industry. Hu Haiyin and his team have not just sped up assembly — they have changed the philosophy: satellites are no longer born in laboratories, they roll off production lines. And this opens an era where access to space becomes mass‑market, not elitist.
The new approach, developed by Hu Haiyin, director of the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his team, allows up to 300 satellites to be produced per year. Hu explained: "It's like a production cycle: the satellite moves from one workstation to another. After passing through all the stations, the satellite is essentially produced." According to Hu, the conveyor‑belt model became feasible because of the demand for large satellite constellations. "When building large‑scale constellations with many satellites, we naturally wondered whether it could be done the same way cars are built on a production line — more efficiently."
The team overcame numerous challenges to bring the idea to life. They had to redesign the entire process — from design and R&D to manufacturing, testing, and in‑orbit operation and maintenance. Feng Jiapeng, a senior engineer at the institute, admitted: "Director Hu leads us in creating all the technological breakthroughs from scratch, so developing each new satellite was quite a challenge." Hu added: "Difficulties certainly exist, but we are not afraid of them. Moving forward along uncharted paths and amid technological uncertainty, we adhere to a simple principle: as Party members, we must take the initiative when the country needs us, and we must explore these uncharted territories to meet national strategic needs."
As China's space programme accelerates like never before, the team is ready to contribute. Hu stressed: "Our goal is to provide telecommunications access to more remote areas — even at sea and in space — so that more people can benefit from digital technologies."
Until recently, satellite production remained a craft: each satellite was assembled by hand, taking months or even years. The conveyor‑belt model, applied for the first time to microsatellites, reduces assembly time to days and cuts costs dramatically. This makes it possible to build huge satellite constellations for global internet, climate monitoring and communications. For China, which is actively developing low‑orbit systems, this approach is a strategic advantage.
As reported by CCTV+, the team is continuing to refine the technology, with the next phase being full automation of the assembly lines.
