Chapter 124 The risk is extremely high
In Chen Yuanguang’s view, this is a key step to achieve the ultimate goal. Only by having your own space station can the entire mining chain flow smoothly.
“Yes, I’m talking about my own space station. Since everyone here is interested in light armor aerospace, you must have some understanding of the commercial aerospace industry.
There are currently some commercial aerospace companies When they announced their intention to enter the space station, what they said was to participate in the space station project, such as Sierra Nevada, United Launch Alliance, AxiomSpace, etc. At most, they would launch part of it and then connect it to the space station.
< br>Like AxiomSpace, it can be seen as a space hotel. They hope to add independent spaces to the existing International Space Station and then turn these independent spaces into expensive space hotels
Guangjia Aerospace is different. We want to build an independent space station, which belongs to Guangjia Aerospace’s own space station and serves as a transfer station for space mining.
As we all know, the space station should be the most expensive space project. China’s Tiangong-1 has cost about 60 billion RMB so far, and the International Space Station is an exaggerated US$100 billion.
Taking into account China’s cost advantages and human resource advantages in manufacturing, coupled with some new technological breakthroughs, it is our most optimistic estimate that we can solve this problem at 35 billion RMB.
This number may expand in the future, so we need investors with big hearts. I don’t bother to lie or underestimate the difficulty of raising funds. "Chen Yuanguang ignored the whispers in the audience and talked about the issues very frankly.
For a time, the discussion in the entire conference hall became louder. Chen Yuanguang, wearing the suit he brought back to Shen Hai from Yanjing, did not speak, as if Wait until it gets quiet down there.
Lin Jia sat in the first row and looked at Chen Yuanguang on the stage. She very much agreed with Chen Yuanguang's idea.
In Lin Jia's view, Chen Yuanguang's achievements are too high, and his threshold for satisfaction in life has also been raised very high. Normal entrepreneurial success or scientific research breakthroughs can no longer satisfy him. .
Chen Yuanguang can get the titles of Young Thousand Talents and Yangtze River Scholar if he wants. Even if he is an academician, as long as he is willing to wait, he can automatically get this title at the age of thirty-five. It is the only Nobel Prize that is somewhat difficult. , just need to wait.
Lin Jia thinks it’s good to have an ambitious goal.
And the success of this project is a good thing for all mankind.
"36 billion RMB is needed to build a space station, and it is very likely that it will not be enough. Sure enough, aerospace is enough to burn money." Liu Ling was very emotional. He is the person in charge of the investment section of MiHoYo and is directly responsible to the actual controller of MiHoYo.
Not only financial institutions were present, but also companies such as MiHoYo, Xiaomi, Goose Factory, and Ali sent people.
MiHoYo had planned to invest in Oriental Space before, but because Guangjia Aerospace had been blocked in advance, the imagination space of Oriental Space was locked up. Just like Sophon locked up the earth's technology, there was no hope. .
In the end, miHoYo and other investors did not invest in Oriental Space. Only Jingwei Capital gave some money to extend the life of Oriental Space.
MiHoYo, who has never given up on the commercial aerospace industry, went to Guangjia Aerospace’s second round of fundraising to see if there were any investment opportunities.
After hearing this plan and the reactions of everyone in the audience, Liu Ling realized that this round of competition should not be too fierce. Without a rational perspective, investment institutions would not invest in such projects.
The return of capital is far away, there is no control, and there is no hope of profit in the necessary steps. The entire project is in a pure money-burning stage.
Li Zhaohui is the person in charge of Echang’s investment business and has a good personal relationship with Liu Ling. The direct competitive relationship between Echang and MiHoYo has not affected their personal relationship.
After hearing this, Li Zhaohui sighed with emotion: "If anyone else had said this, the room would have been empty, and there would be no one there, that is, Chen Yuanguang, who could make everyone hear about this project and have the patience to listen to what he has to say. Even Chen Yuanguang is willing to invest money in him. ”
Liu Ling asked in confusion: "You are all planning to invest?"
Li Zhaohui said: "Of course, the investment department of Goose Factory is not a team that only cares about making money and financial returns.
We don't They will limit themselves to a certain boundary and only serve a certain strategy or business of Goose Factory. If investing in Guangjia Aerospace can help Goose Factory and Chen Yuanguang himself establish a long-term strategic cooperative relationship, then this project We think we can invest."
Liu Ling and Li Zhaohui have a good personal relationship, which does not affect his opinion of the Goose Factory. When he heard that the Goose Factory was not just about making money, Liu Ling couldn't stand it anymore: "Okay. , I thought that all the business of Goose Factory was based on financial reports
In order to give the market a financial report and have beautiful performance, let investors believe in Goose Factory's potential.
It seems that I have a wrong understanding of Goose Factory. "
Li Zhaohui turned to Liu Ling and said: "Of course, there are many big A listed companies who have approached us to do private placement, which has very certain profitability, but we have not done it.
We have never been involved in the new materials and communications industries because we don’t understand these businesses. However, for some valuable companies, we will be willing to invest even if they face long-term losses.
Like Guangjia Aerospace, Mr. Ma came to me specifically before coming here and said that I can invest within 2 billion. Mr. Ma has always liked astronomy and the universe. He feels that even if it does not make money, even if it is a total loss, it will be worth it. It’s time to support China’s aerospace industry.
Someone has to dream of the stars and the sea. ”
Li Zhaohui lied to him for a moment, and even Liu Ling believed the lie.
The audience was noisy for about five minutes. Everyone saw that Chen Yuanguang did not speak on the stage and gradually became quiet.
Chen Yuanguang continued: "I understand everyone's confusion and concerns.
This is a 35 billion RMB project, not a 3.5 billion RMB project, and the 35 billion may be needed in the future. There may be no results after the addition.
It is precisely because of the huge uncertainty and risks involved that I hope to make it as clear as possible
We expect to complete the design and launch of the space station within three years, and it will use a large number of new technologies.
And like the International Space Station, our space station will continue to expand after it is built.
After the construction of the space station is completed, our space mining can be said to be more than half successful.
The remaining small half is electric thrust automatic mining equipment. We will use a new generation of solar cells on a large scale on the space station and transport the automatic mining equipment to space through rockets. These automatic mining equipment will mine on the space station. After returning to the space station, charging is completed through the space station's solar cells.
The ore will then be brought back to Earth by spacecraft for smelting. In the long run, we will complete the smelting on the space station.
The overall plan is roughly this.
Because this involves a lot of professional nouns and terminology, I will briefly explain it without making any PPT.
The space station is a key step in space mining. Next is the Q&A session. See if you have any questions. I will reserve sufficient time for the entire Q&A session. "
As soon as Chen Yuanguang finished speaking, many hands were raised in the audience. Everyone did not have the slightest humility spirit when they were in school.
"Mr. Chen, I am Philip from Sequoia Capital, Sequoia Capital. Capital has invested in some commercial aerospace companies in Amerikan and Europe. I flew here from Los Angeles specifically for your project. "The middle-aged white man who raised his hand fastest said after getting the microphone given to him by the service staff.
His Chinese is surprisingly good, with only a slight accent.
“Thank you.”
Philip continued: “Currently, NASA and the European Space Agency have voices, hoping to reduce the operating costs of the International Space Station through some commercial operations, and even achieve profitability. .
You just mentioned that AxiomSpace will add independent spaces to the existing International Space Station, and then build these independent spaces into expensive space hotels.
We have investment in Sequoia Capital. AxiomSpace, the reason why the International Space Station asks AxiomSpace to do this is because AxiomSpace will give the International Space Station a large rental fee every year
Their plan is to have one space first, and then slowly add more spaces, one, two, three, until there is enough space, and then separate from the International Space Station and become an independent space station.
They plan to adopt a step-by-step plan to achieve their goals, which is a bit similar to parasitism. They will live on the International Space Station and become independent when they grow large enough.
Has Guangjia Aerospace considered this implementation path? For example, we raise RMB 5 billion in the first round of funding, and then do certain commercial operations. After the commercial operations generate revenue, we will conduct subsequent financing. "
Chen Yuanguang said decisively: "No, we will not use the space station as a hotel. Our goal is very clear, which is space mining.
Therefore, for the space station of Guangjia Aerospace, the profit model in the early stage is only the ore collected from space.
After this goal is achieved, we do not rule out opening a certain space to visitors, but this kind of visit is mainly for publicity. ”
Chen Yuanguang doesn’t think AxiomSpace can go out independently, or doesn’t think they can go out independently in the short term. According to their plan, it will take at least ten years to build an independent space station.
He can wait. It won’t be that long. Then came Morgan’s representative:
“Mr. Wright, the gentleman just mentioned that the International Space Station is trying to reduce operating costs in various ways.
I don’t know if you have heard that optical fibers are produced in the International Space Station. Considering the weightless environment, the optical fibers produced in the space station will be more powerful. They can carry more data traffic than now and do not require relay stations. "
Chen Yuanguang replied directly in English: "I have heard of it. I have talked with many R&D personnel from the European Space Agency. We have talked about this issue. The optical fiber they make called ZBLAN, The cost of one kilogram ranges from 1 million to 20 million U.S. dollars. At present, no one on earth except Musk is willing to use this type of optical fiber.
If you can convince Google to replace its global core network with ZBLAN optical fiber, Guangjia Aerospace will consider adding this project. ”
The conversation between the two in pure English contained a large number of professional terms that even investment managers who had studied abroad could not understand.
The words can be understood, but the meanings cannot be connected together. Got it.
"Do you understand?"
"It seems that the cost of providing Musk with a service is 20 million US dollars per kilogram."
"What service is so expensive?"
“I don’t know, it seems that Google also needs this kind of service.”
“Only Musk and Google need this kind of service?”
"That seems to be the meaning."
"That's equivalent to an investment of 35 billion RMB, making 40 million US dollars?"
Many people understand it like this, and they are wrong.
“Okay, Mr. Wright, have you ever considered exploring the possibility of manufacturing human organs in space and then bringing them back to Earth?”
After hearing this, a thought flashed through Chen Yuanguang’s mind. , this investor is very professional and has a good understanding of the projects being carried out on the International Space Station.
Due to the influence of gravity when manufacturing human organs on earth, even with a scaffold, the cell layer will still slip and the ideal effect cannot be achieved.
In contrast, in a weightless environment, it will be much simpler to create organs, and the final effect will be much better.
The International Space Station is currently working on this project. They are focusing on artificial hearts. The weight of a heart is less than one kilogram. Even with packaging, it will not be much heavier. Once the technology is realized Breakthrough, the cost of producing from the space station and then bringing it back to Earth will be much lower than producing on Earth.
Chen Yuanguang said: “We will explore this aspect, but it may not be realistic to expect it to become the core profit-making project of the Guangjia Space Station.
Because we will not put it into use in the short term. The main focus is on this, and the light armor aerospace staff who go to the space station will mainly be experts in mechanical and electronic fields.”
The investment manager who stood up behind him said directly that he didn't understand what they were talking about just now and could he explain it to him.
After Chen Yuanguang expressed his general idea, some investors who had not done enough homework were shocked that the space station could actually do so many things.
Although Chen Yuanguang is surprisingly not interested in these projects that will make a lot of money once a breakthrough is achieved, he only wants to engage in space mining.
"Guangshen, I would like to ask you whether you are personally optimistic about this project? If it fails, will you proceed with the next round of fundraising or self-raised funds?"
Chen Yuanguang said: "Look If the situation arises, we will consider raising funds, but if it fails once, the trust of investors will definitely decrease. This is an objective law.
Therefore, if I want to raise funds after failure, it will be difficult to raise the corresponding amount. If I fail to raise the corresponding amount, I will raise funds myself. I will consider pledging the shares of Guangjia Technology or even selling them directly.
For me, the priority of light armor aerospace is definitely the first. "
"How much money do you plan to invest in this round? "
Chen Yuanguang said: "Depending on the fundraising situation, if I can get enough, I will not invest. If not, I will find a way. "
"You just mentioned that the Guangjia Aerospace project is the first priority for you, which means that it is the most important project. You yourself do not invest in it because of its limited success rate. Doubtful? ”
The other party's questions were quite sharp and pointed to the key point. It is very common for investors to question the founder's motives. They want you to risk your wealth and life, thinking that only in this way will you go all out.
Chen Yuanguang is also very direct: "If I don't believe in this project, I will not inject a new generation of perovskite battery technology into this main body.
Perovskite battery technology It's my scientific research result, not Guangjia Aerospace's. This is a technology worth hundreds of billions. If I don't believe it, then I can completely spin off this technology, set up another company, and put the technology in the new company.
I didn’t do this
The reason why I want to raise as much money as possible is because my money is the ultimate trump card. You have never seen anyone reveal the trump card first when playing cards, right?
When the project could not raise funds, it was my turn to contribute money. ”
Chen Yuanguang’s logic is very clear. To put it bluntly, the project is optimistic now and we can find people to raise funds from the market. Then I will raise funds from the market first. If we are not optimistic and cannot raise funds in the market, then I will do it myself.
"Is there an exit mechanism? "
"No, the entire project requires too much capital, and even I can't provide investors with a cover option for the entire project.
And I have said from the beginning that the risks of this project are very high and the uncertainty is very high. Everyone should be cautious before investing. ”
Chen Yuanguang continued: "I know that everyone's biggest doubt about this project is that it is not profitable, and even if it succeeds, there is a risk of not making money.
Let me briefly talk about the profit method after the success of the space station.
< br>In the long term, it will definitely be space mining, including the research projects mentioned by the previous investors.
In the short term, it will be water resources. It is much easier to obtain water resources than mining. Water resources are obtained on the planet and then extracted into pure water on the space station and sold to the International Space Station.
The current transportation cost for one ton of water to the International Space Station is 20 million US dollars, and the transportation cost from our space station to the International Space Station is this. The cost can be reduced to US$2 million, which is where the profit comes from.
Of course, this is very weak in the early stage, but with the strong demand for space, it is expected to become a long-term profit point. ”
What Chen Yuanguang actually wants to say is that if you want to make money in the short term, don’t invest in this project.
The main people are asking sharp questions one after another, which makes him a little tiresome.
“ How to ensure that the International Space Station will purchase the water resources of Guangjia Aerospace?
Considering the bad relationship between the Amerikan government behind NASA and Light Armor Aerospace. ”
Chen Yuanguang: "I'm just giving an example, and judging from the cooperation we have immediately reached with the European Space Agency, we will transport cargo for the International Space Station.
The International Space Station not only has NASA, but also the European Space Agency and Neon Space Agency Wait.
The Huaguo Space Station also has similar needs.”
After standing for two hours, Chen Yuanguang felt tired. Sometimes it was too difficult to convince others.
This round is the same as before. Representatives of each investment institution will write the target investment amount and the name of the investment institution on paper, and then the service staff will collect it.
There was no bidding, and with such a huge amount of financing, they had no confidence at all that they would finish raising it.
Representatives such as Sequoia, Morgan, and Goldman Sachs later wanted to talk to Chen Yuanguang. The central idea of their conversation was whether they could increase the proportion of voting rights. They must have certain rights, otherwise pure investment would be like scientific research sponsorship. .
This proposal was categorically rejected by Chen Yuanguang, and he would not go public on Nasdaq, even if Goldman Sachs said they could work.
Chen Yuanguang also refused.
(End of this chapter)