State-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, which specializes in satellite research and development, has shortened the manufacturing time of a satellite from about half a year to merely 20 days largely through intelligent production lines.

In its nearly 4,000-square-meter factory in north China's Tianjin Municipality, satellites are manufactured at 13 sites of the production line, where mechanical arms and automated guided vehicles are in operation, with minimum human intervention.

"This is the starting point of all the production lines. It is responsible for preparing materials. When there is a task, orders for materials will be placed. After the material preparation begins, all the materials will be prepared in accordance with the requirements and put in this place. After that, the production line officially starts work, and begin to forward the materials," said Yang Wen of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

One of the most challenging tasks in satellite manufacturing is cable assembly, as each satellite consists of a large number of cables in different layers.

To address the challenges, researchers have developed a digital guidance system, under which each procedure is projected onto the satellite, so that workers can follow the guidance and assemble cables step by step.

"You can see that it is composed of four layers of cables. These are the corresponding processes, and these are the cables' socket numbers. Workers can perform the assembly work according to the projected patterns," said Meng Shaohua of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

“In the past, we needed experienced workers who knew this module well to perform the task, or they had to teach the new employees how to do it. But now, even newcomers can handle it as every step of the process is very clear,” said Zhu Zhipeng of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

"The working time for each production site is designed to be 1.5 days. If the job cannot be completed within 1.5 days, it means that the subsequent products cannot be processed on time, which affects the overall production capacity," said Wang Mian of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.