Shooting stars

Xie says that the group solicits only basic sponsorship because it wants to maintain its noncommercial independence.

"The marketing of the aerospace sector has great potential, as the audience numbers have increased greatly in recent years. It's difficult, however, to balance the nonprofit and commercial aspects of the content so that we can continue the team's operation," Xie says.

The group has done some commercial projects, such as filming and science popularization, but it struggles to make ends meet.

He says that the aerospace industry is not very commercialized, and the group is still exploring ways of cooperating with different brands.

Once, a rocket launch was canceled about an hour before its scheduled liftoff, and canceled again the following day, due to safety concerns. Many photographers had to go home because they were unable to wait any longer.

"That was a rare occasion," Xie recalls. "We had to adjust our mentality and wait for a week until it was finally launched."

They recruited new photographers and managed to produce good-quality footage.

That, says Xie, is how he found that the spirit of aerospace industry had influenced him greatly.

A banner with a slogan is often hung nearby the launch platform.

Xie recalls that he noticed that the slogan changed each time the rocket launch was postponed. The final slogan read: "Only in hard times can courage and perseverance be manifested. Only after polishing can a piece of jade be finer."

"The experts faced problems when they tried to launch the rocket, and we also had to recalibrate our shoot when they canceled the launch," Xie says.