Satellite ring in works for worldwide broadband web service
China has made its first step toward building a vast space-based communications network that can provide broadband internet service worldwide.
The first satellite of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp's Hongyun project was launched atop a Long March 11 carrier rocket early on Saturday at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China.
The technical demonstration spacecraft is tasked with verifying the basic Hongyun satellite design and low-orbit broadband communications technologies. Its main payloads are Ka-band transponders and transmission antennae. It carries scientific and technical devices to explore Hongyun's application in scientific research, environmental survey, and air and sea transportation, CASIC said in a statement.
