China is set to launch the first satellite of the “Hongyan” global satellite communication constellation in the second half of this year. This announcement was made during the aerospace and marine equipment forum held in Changsha on July 12, 2018.
The “Hongyan” global satellite communication constellation comprises hundreds of low Earth orbit satellites. These will establish inter-satellite links to create a satellite networking system. The initial satellite for this constellation is scheduled to be launched in the latter half of 2018, with plans to complete the backbone constellation system by 2023.
According to Zhang Hongtao, the director of the China Academy of Space Technology, “In the future, this constellation will provide mobile communication support and broadband communication services for people and goods around the world in various scenarios such as 5G Internet of Things, mobile broadcasting, satellite-based navigation enhancement, and aviation and maritime surveillance.”
In addition, they are developing a high-resolution commercial remote sensing satellite system with a resolution of 0.5 meters to offer high-resolution image data services to users.
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