China Mobile, the world’s largest telecommunications operator by the number of mobile subscribers, has successfully launched the first relevant satellite of our planet to test 6G technology.

With this step, the Chinese company has laid the foundation for a new stage in its efforts to explore integrated space and ground-based communication technologies.

China’s new project will mark the beginning of an important stage in the development of satellite technologies. Thus, the test satellite placed in low Earth orbit has an innovative 6G design architecture.

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The publication reports that the 6G technology test satellite has an autonomous structure developed jointly by China Mobile and the Academy of Microsatellite Innovations of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Chinese experts said the system, which uses proprietary software and hardware, supports in-orbit software reconfiguration, flexible deployment of key network functions and automated management. In addition, the satellite also improves the efficiency and reliability of the basic mobile communication network in orbit.

These experimental satellites, placed in orbit at an altitude of about 500 kilometers, offer advantages such as low latency and high data transfer speeds compared to high-orbit satellites that travel a distance of 36,000 kilometers. According to China Mobile, low-orbit satellites, positioned as an important platform for future integrated space and terrestrial networks, can eliminate gaps in telecommunications signal coverage in terrestrial mobile networks and provide satellite Internet services with higher bandwidth worldwide.

Based on these test satellites, China Mobile plans to conduct orbital experiments that will accelerate the integration and development of the technology industry for signals transmitted from space to Earth.