Reborn since 1993

Chapter 898 Tickets
Looking at Li Dongling, Academician Sun was waiting for Li Dongling's decision. He came this time to seek a solution for the troubled Beidou project.

Even if he is reluctant to admit it, Academician Sun feels that the Beidou project is the most difficult one among all the projects he has participated in over the years.

This is different from the previous Dongfanghong satellite and Dongfeng missile projects. In those projects, he was only responsible for technology, but not for funding, logistics, staffing and other aspects.

More importantly, if there are any problems or technical difficulties, Qian Lao will be there to cover the cost, which allows Academician Sun to focus all his energy on research and development.

But Beidou is different. He is responsible for the entire project from top to bottom and inside to outside, including funding, technical issues, satellite and rocket production and manufacturing, and the eating, drinking, and defecation of the entire team members. The myriad of issues makes even Academician Sun, who is in his seventies, feel overwhelmed.

If this continues, Academician Sun feels that the Beidou project may be left unfinished in his hands, or even delayed for several years.

It just so happened that AutoNavi Maps, supported by Dongling Hi-Tech, appeared. This made Academician Sun unwilling to wait any longer and wanted to come to Hanxi to seek a solution for Beidou!

The middle-aged director of the Pingyang Aerospace Research Institute also looked at Li Dongling nervously. He had also heard about Beidou's current predicament.

But he knew that Li Dongling's statement today was related to whether he and even many people in the domestic aerospace research institutes could participate in this new project.

Rather than saying that Academician Sun invited AutoNavi Map to join the Beidou project, it would be more accurate to say that he was targeting Dongling Hi-Tech.

AutoNavi is now just an empty shell, while Dongling Hi-Tech has plenty of cash flow. With the support of Dongling Hi-Tech and the joining of AutoNavi, the early stage of the Beidou project will be much smoother.

The joining of AutoNavi means that the BeiDou project has entered the commercialization era ahead of schedule, changing the previous aerospace project that was led by the Ministry of Aerospace Industry and did not seek returns. It also opens up part of the aerospace field to private technology companies such as Dongling Hi-Tech!

Like GPS, if Beidou starts commercialization ahead of time, more companies will join in and seek to monetize it. This can be said to be a huge change in the domestic aerospace industry.

In other words, the person who came today is Academician Sun, who has a huge influence in the domestic aerospace industry, and countless people in the Ministry of Aerospace Industry are his disciples. Only when he says this will people believe it. If it were someone else, probably no one would believe it at all.

If the Beidou project officially starts to operate, more domestic universities, research institutes and companies will join in, and a new industrial chain will be formed.

But Li Dongling did not agree immediately. He understood Academician Sun's intention, but the Beidou project was too complicated, and it was unknown how the Ministry of Aerospace Industry would react if a non-state-owned company joined the Beidou project.

The most important thing is, if you join the Beidou project, how will the equity be distributed, how much money will be needed to invest, and when Beidou makes its investment back in the future, how will the profits be distributed?

Li Dongling will never allow AutoNavi to enter the market unless these issues are resolved. AutoNavi represents Dongling Hi-Tech, and Li Dongling does not want to not get any meat but get into trouble. In the end, all kinds of conspiracy theories will emerge, such as AutoNavi is picking the fruits of its labor.

“Academician Sun, AutoNavi is also willing to support the BeiDou project, but many things still need to be sorted out in advance to avoid misunderstandings in the future, or even torn faces and become enemies!

AutoNavi and Dongling Hi-Tech hope to have more cooperation with the aerospace department in the future, but we don’t want to become mortal enemies!”

Li Dongling spoke bluntly to Academician Sun and made his point clear.

It is better to talk it out now, even if there will be disputes, than to fight later over the uneven distribution of the spoils.

As I said, sometimes rules are not only a way to restrain yourself, but also something that can be used to protect yourself.

When Academician Sun heard what Li Dongling said, he was not disappointed or dissatisfied. Li Dongling did not directly refuse, which was the best news.

Extending his hand towards Li Dongling, Academician Sun motioned Li Dongling to continue speaking.

"The Beidou project needs to establish equity. Only in this way can other companies join the project!"

“There is no order without rules. Only when the equity is clear can we invest according to the equity.

The most important point is that the BeiDou project must clearly identify the suppliers of satellites, rockets, chips, etc., and cannot change them at will. Companies willing to support the BeiDou project should be given order support. Only in this way will more companies be willing to join the BeiDou project. "

Only interests can form an alliance. Only when those units and companies see the benefits will they be willing to advance and retreat with the Beidou project. But we cannot say that a company has supported Beidou for so many years and then was kicked out when it was time to reap the rewards. "One last point, after the Beidou system is built in the future, if it is commercialized successfully and starts to make a profit, how will these profits be distributed?"

"If these problems can be solved, AutoNavi is willing to join the BeiDou project and bear the cost of AutoNavi's equity!"

Li Dongling said to Academician Sun, this is also a clear sign of the situation.

Academician Sun fell into deep thought after hearing this. These words were indeed beyond his expectations. Before, Academician Sun's energy was mainly focused on technology, and he did not pay much attention to other aspects.

But after hearing what Li Dongling said, Academician Sun realized that it would not be easy to commercialize Beidou and introduce other investors.

After thinking for a while, Academician Sun said, "Mr. Li, we all know that the Beidou project, like the American GPS project, is not only for civilian use, it also has a large part of military functions!

Therefore, more than 51% of the controlling stake in the BeiDou project will be in the hands of the Ministry of Aerospace Industry.”

Academician Sun said that the Beidou project is, after all, a project under the Ministry of Aerospace Industry, and it cooperates with the military weapons research and development department. The controlling rights must be in the hands of the Ministry of Aerospace Industry.

Li Dongling was not surprised at all about this. To be honest, given the importance of the Beidou project, no other company except the Ministry of Aerospace Industry could handle it.

“After I return to Yanjing, I will propose to the Ministry of Aerospace Industry to establish a Beidou Satellite Navigation Company with the Beidou project as the main body, and to reorganize the research institutes involved in the Beidou project into companies such as Continental Satellite and Continental Satellite Communications.

At that time, the shares of BeiDou will be jointly held by the Ministry of Aerospace Industry, Continental Satellite, Continental Satellite Communications, AutoNavi and other companies!"

Academician Sun said to Li Dongling, "How much equity AutoNavi will get in BeiDou Company still needs to be discussed, but I can guarantee that in the future, all the civil and commercial profits of BeiDou Company will be obtained by BeiDou Company, and AutoNavi will also get its own share of the profits!"

By saying this, Academician Sun has already given it his all, which is equivalent to endorsing AutoNavi with his lifelong credit. If someone tries to trip it up in the future or try to take advantage of it to snatch AutoNavi's share of the Beidou revenue, Academician Sun will be the first one to stand up for AutoNavi.

When he gets angry, he not only has to deal with this old man, but also his disciples in the aerospace field, and those old friends he met in this life, such as Mr. Qian, who is both his teacher and friend. These people all stand with Academician Sun!

To offend so many leading figures at once, and to be enemies with a large group of allies of Dongling Hi-Tech, anyone would have to weigh the consequences and decide whether it is worth it.

What Academician Sun said is equivalent to asking AutoNavi to invest in Beidou in exchange for an admission ticket to Beidou Company.

According to the Beidou Phase I project, four experimental satellites will be launched, including the production, manufacturing, launch and development of rockets and satellites, with a total estimated cost of around US$400 million.

In other words, Dongling Hi-Tech and AutoNavi spent about US$400 million to obtain equity and entry tickets for the Beidou project.

There is no way around this. The Beidou project is now at a standstill and no funds can be raised in the short term. Only AutoNavi is investing money. The Beidou project has made achievements, proving that it is not impossible to complete the Beidou project. More funds will be available in the later stage.

Li Dongling calculated that if he used 400 million US dollars to obtain the equity of Beidou Company, he would definitely not expect to make a profit in the short term.

But sometimes, the calculations are not that clear. Investing in the Beidou project is not just this one project. Investing in Beidou is equivalent to becoming an "insider" in the aerospace field and getting a ticket and admission ticket to the aerospace industry!

In the future, if Dongling Hi-Tech develops the mainland version of Starlink, a rocket transportation company, space tourism and other projects, it will also be able to get support from the Ministry of Aerospace Industry and various aerospace research institutes, and can also get the endorsement of Academician Sun.

Although everyone is praising Musk's speaX company and how strong it is, only the two sides know how much technology, patents, technicians, and order projects are directly supported by NASA, or even supported under a pseudonym.

But without NASA's life-saving efforts at critical moments, it would be questionable whether SpeaX could survive.

Any company entering the aerospace field must have the support of the local aerospace administration bureau, otherwise it will be impossible to move forward!

“Dongling Hi-Tech can support AutoNavi Maps and invest $15 million in BeiDou in exchange for % of BeiDou’s equity, and will continue to invest in BeiDou in the future!
In addition, companies such as Dongxin Semiconductor are also willing to cooperate with Beidou to develop satellite chips for the Beidou project. In addition, departments such as Shenzhou Computer under Dongling Hi-Tech are also willing to cooperate with the Beidou project and launch co-branded products! "

The brothers are like brothers, and the father and son fight together. Since they are going to fight, Dongling Hi-Tech must come up with a whole family bucket, allowing Shenzhou Computer, Dongxin Semiconductor, and future mobile phone, automobile and other departments to all join the battle and become suppliers and partners of the Beidou project!
(End of this chapter)