China Mobile Launches World's First Satellite for 6G Communication Testing

China's largest wireless telecommunications company China Mobile (中國移動·China Yidong) has successfully launched the world's first satellite for testing 6th generation mobile communication (6G) services, China Daily reported on the 5th.

The world's first 6G test satellite.
[Photo by China Daily website]

According to China Daily, the satellite launched on the 3rd was jointly developed by China Mobile and the Satellite Innovation Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, equipped with equipment to test the world's first 6G architecture.

China Mobile is the world's largest wireless telecommunications company by number of subscribers. It has 298.54 million 5th generation mobile communication (5G) subscribers alone.

The media reported that since this satellite orbits in low Earth orbit at an altitude of 500 km, it offers advantages such as lower latency and higher data transmission speeds compared to geostationary satellites at an altitude of 36,000 km.

China Mobile explained, "This system, utilizing domestic software and hardware, can reconfigure software in orbit and support flexible deployment of core network functions and automated management, thereby enhancing efficiency and reliability."

They added, "Based on these test satellites, we plan to accelerate the integration and development of space and terrestrial technology industries by conducting in-orbit experiments."

The 6G test satellite was launched on the same day along with the company's 5G satellite.

Currently, the low Earth orbit satellite networks discussed for 6th generation mobile communication use satellites at altitudes between 500 and 10,000 km. In this regard, technological competition among countries worldwide is intensifying.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.