China launched a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Thursday, sending the Smart SkyNet-1 01 satellite into its preset orbit, May 9, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

China launched a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Thursday, sending the Smart SkyNet-1 01 satellite into its preset orbit.

The satellite is China's first medium Earth orbit (MEO) communication satellite. The Smart SkyNet, originally developed by Tsinghua University, consists of eight MEO communication satellites as a group deployed in an orbit at an altitude of 20,000 kilometers, constituting a communication constellation covering the whole globe. It can also be expanded to two groups, four groups and other kinds of networks as needed, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The completion of the constellation will help to realize personalized broadband network services with global coverage without blind spots, building a unified 6G network with low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites Internet and high Earth orbit satellites Internet, realizing the access of all kinds of users under the whole scenario and the whole domain.

After the launch of Smart SkyNet-1 01 satellite, it will satisfy on-demand access for users and interconnection of Internet services and terrestrial cellular services.

The satellite will also carry out application demonstrations for typical scenarios after in-orbit operation, including direct connection of scientific research data between China and Antarctic scientific research stations and real-time return of LEO satellite data. It will lay a solid foundation for the construction of an innovative experimental platform for space network and the exploration of the application mode of Smart SkyNet industry, Xinhua reported.

This was the 521st flight mission of the Long March rocket series. 

Global Times