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original title: stride forward on the road to a strong country and embark on a new journey. hebei creates a new landmark | 0.1 mm ultra-thin glass, guarding shenzhou like armor

qinhuangdao xingjian special glass co., ltd. challenges the "impossible" with innovation

0.1mm ultra-thin glass protects shenzhou like armor

on september 9, qinhuangdao xingjian special glass co., ltd. chairman lu yong (second from left) and general manager lu yilin (first from left) checked whether there were streaks or stones inside the glass raw materials. photo by hebei daily correspondent wang jijun

shenzhou spacecraft goes up to the sky and asks questions of the heavens. since its launch on april 25, the shenzhou 18 spacecraft has been in orbit for nearly 5 months. the in-orbit video released by the china manned space engineering office shows that the astronauts have carried out a number of space science experiments and test tasks, and their life in space is fulfilling and orderly.

the astronauts are accompanied by more than 400,000 pieces of 0.1mm ultra-thin, ultra-strong radiation-resistant glass cover sheets produced by qinhuangdao xingjian special glass co., ltd. they protect the spacecraft like armor and block the impact of high-energy particles in space on solar panels.

august 31, star arrow company exhibition hall.

"although it is only 0.03 mm thick, which is equivalent to one-third of the thickness of a hair, it can withstand instantaneous temperature changes of several hundred degrees celsius." general manager lu yilin is introducing the company's latest research results to the visiting guests.

they are industry leaders who came to qinhuangdao to attend the 13th china functional glass academic seminar and international forum on new optoelectronic materials. during the break of the meeting, they specially visited xingjian company.

in lu yilin's hands, the glass cover, which was as thin as a cicada's wing, was bent into a tube without breaking, which attracted praise from big names.

last year, lu yilin led his team to adjust the formula, modify the process, and conduct tests to overcome technical difficulties, and managed to reduce the thickness of the glass cover from 0.1 mm to 0.03 mm, and increase the bending strength from 60 mpa to 400 mpa. this reduction and increase has achieved another major technological breakthrough in the field of aerospace special glass.

since joining the company in 2016, lu yilin has participated in the research and development and supporting tasks of nearly 200 radiation-resistant glass cover films, and has gradually grown into a technical backbone of the company.

seeing his daughter's enterprising spirit, lu yong, as a father and chairman of the company, feels very pleased.

in his opinion, innovation, staying one step ahead and daring to challenge the "impossible" are the keys to star arrow's industry leadership for more than 20 years.

switching from the furniture industry to aerospace glass manufacturing was the first "impossible" that lu bravely challenged.

in 2000, lu yong, who was optimistic about the development prospects of aerospace glass and had a thriving furniture business, founded the star arrow company.

at the beginning of his business, he spent all day running around optical processing and manufacturing companies and scientific research institutes in various places, observing, asking for advice, studying, and experimenting, and he forced himself from a "layman" to a "local expert".

after working day and night for a year, the company finally mastered the raw material formula and production process of the glass cover. the product passed the provincial appraisal and met the standards for use in satellites.

we thought there was hope, but since the company's products had not been widely used, aerospace engineering dared not use them rashly. the start-up funds that were scraped together were quickly used up, but no orders were received.

when the situation was most difficult, lu yong sold his furniture factory, and even his house and car. he moved his family to live with relatives and invested all his funds in product research and development.

at the end of 2002, star arrow finally received its first order. the specifications of the product ordered by the customer were too large, far beyond the production capacity of domestic manufacturers, and no company dared to accept the order before.

"the more others can't do, the more we want to do it. maybe it's an opportunity to stand out in the market." lu yong gritted his teeth and took the order.

soon, a thorny problem arose.

at that time, there was no internal circle slicer for large-sized glass cover sheets in china. lu yong and his technical staff worked day and night in the workshop to study the slicing technology in the industrial field, "even thinking of ways in his dreams", and finally designed the first special glass slicer in china, achieving a leap in technology.

with its products that have gained a foothold in the market, star arrow has become more and more famous in the industry. in 2003, the shenzhou v spacecraft was successfully launched, and star arrow's products were successfully applied to my country's first manned spacecraft.

at that moment, lu yong was extremely excited. he bought a brush and red paper and posted a large notice in the factory to cheer up all the hard-working employees.

the company was developing rapidly. one winter, lu yilin came to the company and saw his father working in a dilapidated van. it was a cold day, and the van was leaking everywhere. lu yong huddled at his desk, his hands red from the cold.

such a scene made lu yilin burst into tears. her father's focus and perseverance in his career made her feel distressed and moved.

what lu yilin didn't know was that the company was growing at its fastest pace during that period. the factory could no longer meet production needs, so lu yong vacated his office and turned it into a cleaning workshop. he bought a scrapped van, stuffed a table and a chair into it, and used it as an office. he used this old van for four years.

whether a company can stand out in the market depends on its products. in 2008, when lu yong was still working in a van, he received a notice that his company had been included in the list of qualified suppliers of the china aerospace science and technology corporation. lu yong turned the "impossible" into "possible".

soon, another "impossible" thing happened.

osr (secondary surface mirror) glass substrates are mainly used in the temperature control system of spacecraft. before 2003, my country had to import them from abroad at a high price of more than 300 yuan per piece, which was not only expensive but also difficult to guarantee the quality.

the market gap is where the business opportunity lies. lu yong was determined to come up with his own product.

the technological breakthrough from 0 to 1 is not easy. the radiation resistance and thinning of aerospace glass are a contradiction in themselves. thinning will cause the glass to have insufficient radiation resistance.

in order to seek breakthroughs in more than a dozen "conflicting" technical indicators, lu yong conducted hundreds of experiments. each experiment was carried out next to a high-temperature furnace, repeatedly melting and mixing...

in 2010, the osr glass substrate independently developed by star arrow was successfully launched on the market, breaking the foreign monopoly in one fell swoop and reducing the product price by nearly 90%. to date, it has saved the country a total of 500 million yuan.

from the "shenzhou" series of manned spacecraft, the "chang'e lunar exploration project" series of satellites, to the "tiangong" series of space laboratories, and the "tianwen-1" mars probe...behind every milestone of china's aerospace projects, there is the glass cover produced by star arrow corporation.

in their hands, the tiny pieces of glass become thinner and thinner, tougher and more radiation-resistant, and all their products have reached international advanced levels.

innovation never stops, so that the company can maintain its vitality forever. the addition of a group of new forces such as lu yilin has brought vitality and vigor, and xingjian company has become more innovative.

recently, lu yilin has been leading his team to target domestic gaps, make all-out efforts to tackle technical problems, and strive to become the "hidden champion" in the market segment. the research and development of hollow glass microspheres, known as the "space age materials" of the 21st century, has achieved initial results; small-scale production of shock-proof and impact-resistant quartz pendulums has been achieved; the world's thinnest ultra-high temperature resistant optical glass of 0.01 mm has been successfully developed...

it is foreseeable that in the future, glass made in hebei will shine in space in more advanced and diverse forms. (reporter jia nan of hebei daily)

(hebei news network)