航天新材料系列报告之一：低轨卫星的商业逻辑

Investment Rating - The industry investment rating is "Positive" [4] Core Viewpoints - The primary demand for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites is in communication services, which require bandwidth and signal coverage [12][16] - Compared to ground base stations, LEO satellites have lower coverage costs but higher bandwidth costs, with coverage costs of approximately 2.9 yuan per square kilometer and bandwidth costs of 2345 yuan per Mbps [17][20] - LEO satellites can achieve global network coverage at a lower cost compared to 5G base stations, which would require an investment of 8 trillion yuan for global land coverage [22] - The operational model for LEO satellites is particularly suitable for sparsely populated areas, making it a viable option for regions like the United States and Latin America [23] Summary by Sections 1. Demand for Low Earth Orbit Satellites - The main demand for LEO satellites is in communication services, significantly outpacing other uses such as remote sensing and navigation [12] - The number of satellites required for global coverage can range from 25 to over 50, depending on service continuity and redundancy [22] 2. Cost Comparison with Ground Base Stations - The coverage cost for 5G base stations is about 46,473 yuan per square kilometer, while LEO satellites are approximately 2.9 yuan per square kilometer [19][20] - Bandwidth costs for LEO satellites are significantly higher, with costs around 2345 yuan per Mbps compared to 146 yuan per Mbps for 5G [20] 3. Commercial Logic of Low Earth Orbit Satellites - LEO satellites can provide global coverage with a theoretical investment of 469 billion yuan for 10,000 satellites, compared to the 8 trillion yuan needed for 5G base stations [22] - The operational cost model suggests that a user base of around 16 million could achieve break-even for China's satellite constellation plans [22]