Gegründet von mehreren Dutzend Raumfahrt-Experten, mit bereits massenhaften Anwendungen im Einsatz: Ein Laserkommunikationsunternehmen hat eine über 100 Millionen Yuan betragende Serie A++-Finanzierung aus Peking erhalten | Exclusive von 36Kr

Author | Lin Qingqing

Editor | Yuan Silai

36Kr learned that "Aurora Starcom", a developer of space laser communication technology, recently completed a strategic Series A++ financing round exceeding 100 million RMB. The investment was jointly made by the Beijing Commercial Space and Low - altitude Economy Industry Investment Fund, Binfu Capital, Ningbo Qianwan New Area Yongshang Yaron Venture Capital, and Optics Valley Financial Holdings, with existing shareholders such as Yangtze River Capital continuing to increase their stakes. This round of financing will be mainly used for large - scale production capacity improvement, research and development of next - generation laser communication terminals, and expansion of the core technology team. Since its establishment, "Aurora Starcom" has completed multiple rounds of large - scale financing.

"Aurora Starcom" was founded in 2020. Its core team members come from institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Huawei, and ZTE. The company focuses on the research, development, and manufacturing of space laser communication terminals and system solutions. Its products cover scenarios such as inter - satellite same - orbit/hetero - orbit networking, high - speed satellite - to - ground data transmission, and near - space platform communication, supporting multiple communication rates from 10Gbps to 400Gbps. In March this year, the laser communication payload of the company, which was launched into orbit along with the "Optical Transmission 01/02 Experimental Satellites", completed China's first 400Gbps inter - satellite ultra - high - speed in - orbit data transmission experiment. The single - transmission data reached 14.4TB, the communication duration was 6 minutes and 44 seconds, the communication distance was 640 kilometers, the link operation was stable throughout, and the tracking error was less than 5μrad. This rate is twice the deployment capacity of the current US Starlink (200Gbps), and the technical indicators have reached the international leading level at the same period.

Just 10 days before the announcement of this round of financing, the "Aurora Constellation" achieved stable laser communication for 1 hour, 48 minutes, and 36 seconds under the extreme conditions of an orbital altitude of 530 kilometers and an inter - satellite distance of 5100 kilometers. This experiment once again refreshed the record of inter - satellite laser communication. It was China's first time to complete inter - satellite laser link establishment across the stratosphere at such an ultra - long distance and high altitude.

Photo provided by the interviewee

The farthest transmission distance in interstellar space communication was set by NASA in April 2024. Its DSOC deep - space optical communication system successfully transmitted data from the "Psyche" asteroid, which is 226 million kilometers away from Earth, to Earth. However, NASA's mission focused on verifying link accessibility and initial link establishment, while Aurora Starcom's recent experiment achieved substantial breakthroughs in link stability, duration control, and engineering adaptability.

Currently, the global low - Earth orbit satellite internet has entered an explosive period. Plans such as SpaceX and China's "Space Silk Road" have created an urgent demand for high - bandwidth, anti - interference laser communication. In the early stage of China's space laser communication technology development, traditional scientific research institutions played a leading role. Emerging commercial companies face pain points such as high technical thresholds and long in - orbit verification cycles, and most enterprises lack actual link - establishment cases. Although the overseas market has achieved commercial application (such as the European Data Relay System), China is rapidly catching up in terms of self - controllable technology and commercialization speed.

News photo, source: CCTV.com

"Aurora Starcom" has achieved 100% self - controllable core technology through a fully self - developed technology system (covering six major fields such as optics, mechanics, and electronic control). Its products adopt the path of "space - grade performance + industrial - grade cost". The weight of the whole machine is as low as 6kg, the optical axis correction accuracy reaches 1urad, and it can achieve stable link establishment for 24 consecutive hours at the thousand - kilometer level. As of 2024, the company has sent 12 in - orbit laser communication terminals into orbit, supporting domestic low - Earth orbit satellite constellation missions. It has become the first domestic commercial company to achieve stable in - orbit link establishment in three consecutive missions. In 2024, the company's annual production capacity increased to 100 sets, and it plans to expand to 400 sets in 2025 to meet the needs of low - Earth orbit constellation networking.

In terms of market verification, the products of "Aurora Starcom" have been mass - applied in remote - sensing satellite and commercial constellation missions, and the company has reached cooperation with national - level users and core commercial customers such as LT. The company has built its own "Aurora Constellation" in - orbit experimental platform, accumulating more than 200 hours of continuous communication verification, and has completed full - time verification in cooperation with 18 aerospace units. Company founder Wu Shaojun said: In the future, "Aurora Starcom" plans to focus on supporting low - Earth orbit constellations, researching and developing miniaturized terminals, and expanding the global market.

In terms of the team, Dr. Wu Shaojun, the founder of the company, once served as the chief designer of the manned space project and led multiple national - level major projects; Xue Jiang, the chief optical communication expert, promoted the commercialization of 400G optical communication technology at Huawei and ZTE; Deputy General Managers Xie Teng and Lü Shimeng both have more than 10 years of experience in aerospace product development. More than 70% of the company's employees are R & D personnel, and the Shanghai production line has realized modular processes, completing the full - chain closed - loop from design to mass production.

Views of the investors:

Guo Junhai, the founder and chairman of Yaron Venture Capital, said: "Space laser communication is one of the core technologies supporting major national strategic needs such as satellite internet and space information corridors. It has extremely high technical barriers and broad market prospects. 'Aurora Starcom' has an experienced and innovative core team. Its technical route is clear, and its engineering and commercialization progress is rapid. Especially the recent successful 400Gbps ultra - high - speed inter - satellite laser communication in - orbit experiment fully verifies the company's international leading level and strong engineering strength in this cutting - edge field. We are highly optimistic about the development potential of 'Aurora Starcom' in the wave of commercial space and national space infrastructure construction. Therefore, we continue to increase our investment in this round, looking forward to its continuous innovation and breakthroughs and its growth into a world - class space technology enterprise."

Liu Jing, the investment director of Binfu Capital, said: "Currently, the global aerospace industry pattern is being reshaped, and the integrated space - ground information network is being reconstructed at an accelerated pace. Facing the needs of ten - thousand - satellite constellation networking, inter - connection of low, medium, and high orbits, and even communication and data transmission between the sky, the ground, the sea, and space, laser communication, with its characteristics of high bandwidth, anti - interference, and strong confidentiality, is undoubtedly the first choice for space communication technology. It will help achieve global seamless connection covering the poles, the oceans, and uninhabited areas, build a self - controllable space - based information corridor, and become the core infrastructure for all - domain interconnection in the 6G era.

The team of 'Aurora Starcom' has solid technology, comprehensive capabilities, a steady strategy, bold execution, and efficient iteration, driving forward with both steadiness and innovation. The company firmly grasps the key competitive point of in - orbit capabilities in the commercial space field. Through self - built and self - launched verification satellites and cooperation with core customers, it has taken the lead in breaking through key technical fields such as second - level capture and link re - establishment after disconnection, stable link establishment and communication at a satellite spacing of thousands of kilometers, and 400Gbps ultra - high - speed inter - satellite communication. By integrating'space - grade performance + industrial - grade cost', it continuously builds a leading edge and expands its market share. With the deepening of cooperation with national - level users such as GW/G60 and core commercial users such as LT, we believe that 'Aurora Starcom' is expected to continuously obtain high - quality orders and innovative application scenarios. On this basis, it can achieve a development flywheel of large - scale mass production and technological iteration and become a leading enterprise in the laser communication industry. This round of financing will mainly support the further iteration and upgrading of 'Aurora Starcom's inter - satellite and satellite - to - ground laser communication technologies, as well as the construction of a high - standard mass - production line, laying the foundation for the upcoming explosion of space networking demand."