Chinese authorities have announced the initial completion of the country’s long-awaited high-orbit satellite communications network.
In what is being touted as a potential competitor to Elon Musk’s Starlink internet constellation, the Chinese equivalent promises to offer high-speed internet services to the country’s more than 1.4 billion inhabitants.
The satellite communications network would provide services to critical state industries, including aviation and navigation, power utilities and emergency services, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
The constellation covers China and many of its Belt and Road partners, including Russia, Mongolia, Southeast Asia, India, and vast portions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Established in 2013 as part of President Xi Jinping’s 12th five-year plan, the Belt and Road Initiative is an international infrastructure and cooperation development strategy that includes China and more than 150 affiliated members.
Belt and Road partners account for an estimated 75 percent of the world’s population and half of its gross domestic product.
The high-orbit satellite internet service, which includes the high-throughput satellites ChinaSat 16, 19 and 26, is expected to reach a network speed of 500 gigabits per second as soon as 2025, said the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Because high-orbit satellites are further away from the devices they connect with, they cover a significantly broader portion of the earth relative to low-orbit satellites.
Unlike SpaceX, which relies on mass-produced satellites arranged in a low-orbit constellation, a high-orbit network does not require as many satellites to provide services to a greater area of the earth, said Sun Yaohua, associate professor at Beijing University of Posts Telecommunications.
That is not to say high-orbit arrangements are without their disadvantages, however. According to Sun, low-orbit satellite constellations like Starlink are significantly more resilient and if one or more units go down, the internet can still function relatively well.
Because low-orbit networks are closer to the earth and one another, they can communicate at a higher speed due to minimal signal loss over shorter distances, making them ideal for online commerce and high-definition streaming, added Sun.
Professor Sun believes that in several years, China will establish and coordinate low and high-orbit networks to provide primary and enhanced coverage for national, commercial and private users.
The country would be required to establish low-orbit infrastructure in order to roll out the next generation of internet (6G) and that this latest breakthrough was an important platform from which to proceed, Sun added.
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