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At 7:51 on December 22, 2018, the first satellite of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Limited’s Hongyun Project was successfully launched at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and entered the intended orbit. The success of this launch clarifies an essential step made in the construction of low-orbit broadband mobile communication satellite system of China.
▲ A piece of “l(fā)uck cloud” remains after the rocket is launched. Photographed by Lang Wenhai
The first satellite of Hongyun Project is also the first satellite for low-orbit broadband mobile communication technology testing. In this launch, millimeter wave phased array is employed to low-orbit broadband mobile communication satellite for the first time to achieve better flexibility in business mode by using dynamic wave beams. Tests and application demonstration on low-orbit space-based Internet will be performed later with this satellite as a model.
Besides the main communication payload, the satellite also carries spectral thermometer and 3S (AIS/ADS-B/DCS) payload to conduct upper atmosphere temperature detection, automatic vessel information identification (AIS), automatic department surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) and sensor data collection (DCS). The information acquired thereby could be widely used in scientific research, environment protection, maritime affairs, air control and other fields.
CASIC executes Hongyun Project to construct a low-orbit broadband mobile communication satellite system with global coverage. Based on the accessibility to space-based Internet, it is aimed at information integration of communication, navigation and remote sensing through combination of enhanced low-orbit navigation and diverse remote sensing capacity. The Project has three phases. In Phase I, the first satellite was launched at the end of 2018. In Phase II, 4 business testing satellites will be launched at the end of the “13th Five-year Plan”. In Phase III, space-ground integration system will be completed at the middle of the “14th Five-year Plan” and have the condition for general operation. Currently, the overall progress of Hongyun Project is in line with the international advanced level.
In addition to this, CASIC’s intelligent satellite manufacturing line for satellite mass production is under construction in Wuhan National Aerospace Industrial Space. It will be the foundation of the satellite constellation construction in the future.
Extended Information
China’s “Hongyun Project” will be generally deployed around 2022.
Resulting from the environmental diversity of deserts, mountains and oceans, a great number of the world’s population do not have access to the Internet. “Hongyun Project” is proposed to relieve this problem. In this Project, 156 small satellites are planned to be sent to the space, which will operate on the orbits 1,000 km away from the ground and make up a network. This network will be a satellite-borne broadband global mobile communication Internet. It will satisfy a great number of users in China and other regions with underdeveloped Internet with the synchronous and shared broadband access to Internet.
Around 2022, after the deployment of “Hongyun Project” is finished and the condition for overall operation is achieved, it will be possible to provide broadband mobile communication services with seamless global coverage and to construct a general information platform integrating “communication, navigation and remote sensing” into a whole for all kinds of users. With the system finished, no matter we are in the desert or on the ocean, or even on a plane, we can enjoy the same Internet surfing speed and experience as we do at home.
One year ago, on March 3, the first CASIC technology testing satellite, Tiankun-1 satellite, was successfully launched, clarifying CASIC’s capacity for independent research and development of all kinds of typical space aircraft. By March 3 of this year, the satellite will have been serving for one year. All on-orbit tests and applications will have been successfully performed and solid technical bases will have been laid for “Hongyun” Project.
CASIC Second Research Institute has established a space engineering company and partnered with Hubei Provincial Government for strategic cooperation. The construction of a satellite industrial park has already been initiated in Wuhan National Aerospace Industrial Base. This park with satisfy the needs of Hongyun Project for business testing satellite launching in 2020 and will carry out the mass production of satellites in the whole constellation around 2022.
At present, the general design of business satellite system of Hongyun Project is ongoing as well, and the detailed design scheme is expected to be delivered this year.
