China - August 27, 2024

China speeds up development, deployment of low Earth orbit satellites

(Voice_over)

China is stepping up efforts to develop and deploy low Earth orbit satellites as part of an effort to bolster its space ambitions and communications networks.

LEO satellites orbit at or below 2,000 km above the Earth's surface and can provide reliable high-speed internet service because it doesn't rely on cellular towers or ground infrastructure.

In August, the country launched another batch of LEOs as part of an effort to build a mega-constellation of LEO satellites called "Thousand Sails" that will eventually include 15,000 LEOs by 2030.

The plan is aimed at competing with Starlink, a mega-constellation owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX, which currently has about 7,000 LEOs in orbit.

To realize the country's ambitious plan, Chinese manufacturers are developing low-cost LEO satellites for mass production.

(Sound_bite)

Lin Guangrong, communications system architect, GalaxySpace:

"I believe the conditions are indeed preliminarily mature, and we should soon see a wave of satellite internet technology development. Increasing production capacity is not particularly difficult. For instance, at our Nantong-based factory, if we achieve the planned capacity, we should be able to produce 300 to 500 satellites per year."

(Voice_over)

Industry watchers expect satellite-based smart phones to see a rise in popularity because they offer a large bandwidth and low latency, making it ideal for communication purposes.

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