Jakarta, INTI - China launched a Smart Dragon-3 (SD-3) rocket from the sea on April 11 to send a test satellite into a predetermined orbit. The rocket launched at 7:32 PM Beijing time from waters near Yangjiang, Guangdong Province, and was operated by the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, as reported by Chinese media Xinhua. This mission is part of China's efforts to develop satellite internet technology, which is now a growing competition globally.
The satellite is intended to test satellite-based communications technology. This move comes amid growing attention to satellite internet services, including the dominance of Starlink by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. China appears to be accelerating its technology development to catch up and provide an alternative.
Surpassed Starlink’s Performance
In a separate experiment, Chinese researchers successfully demonstrated a high-speed laser connection from a geostationary satellite that, under certain conditions, is claimed to surpass Starlink’s performance. The experiment, conducted at an observatory in Lijiang in March, had signals sent from a satellite at an altitude of about 36,000 km to Earth using a low-power laser of just 2 watts.
Despite the long distance, the system is said to be capable of achieving downlink speeds of up to 1 Gbps, or about five times faster than Starlink in the study's comparison. This success is supported by a technical approach at the receiving station on Earth, which combines adaptive optics and multi-channel processing to overcome atmospheric distortion, which is a challenge in optical communications from high orbit.
Instead of relying on a single signal path, this technology divides the distorted signal into multiple channels and then selects the strongest one to maintain data quality. The result is not only increased speed but also increased transmission reliability.
Designed for High-Capacity System
This experiment is important because it was conducted from a geostationary orbit, which has a greater distance than the low orbit where Starlink satellites operate, making transmission challenges more complex. However, the technology being tested is still intended for large-scale receiving systems, not consumer devices, so it will likely initially be used for network backbones or high-capacity data transmission.
With the launch of the test satellite and advances in optical communications, China is demonstrating its seriousness in developing satellite internet. While it is unclear when the service will be widely available, these steps indicate the potential to compete with established industry players like Starlink.
Conclusion
China launched a Smart Dragon-3 rocket to deliver a test satellite as part of its satellite internet development. China also tested laser communications technology from geostationary satellites, claiming it can reach speeds of up to 1 Gbps, faster under certain conditions than Starlink. While still focused on large-scale infrastructure, this move demonstrates China's ambition to catch up and compete with the dominance of existing satellite internet services.
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