NUDT: Satellite System for Cargo Tracking

History

2025: Project Launch

China has launched satellite technology capable of tracking the movement of hundreds of millions of shipping containers around the world. The technology became known in early March 2025.

The system uses data from a compact Tiantuo-5 satellite launched into orbit in 2020 and allows real-time control of supply chains. This is the development of specialists from the National University of Defense Technologies (NUDT) in Changsha (China).

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Фото: SCMP

According to the South China Morning Post, tests have shown that China can collect real-time data from Internet of Things (IoT) sensors on cargo containers, including information about their location, internal conditions and hacking attempts. Such a breakthrough will help Beijing tighten export controls at a time when the country is tightening restrictions on the supply of advanced technology to the United States and allied states.

The system is based on a planned grouping of 66 low-cost nanosatellites, each smaller than a conventional refrigerator, according to a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal NUDT. One major technological advance is the hybrid network, which separates slower "static" sensors (such as on containers in a port) from fast-moving cargo via different signaling protocols, preventing data collisions.

A team of researchers led by associate professors of the NUDT Department of Aerospace Science and Engineering Li Sunting and Chen Lihu applied methods borrowed from Chinese missile tracking systems in the project. This allowed 10 times more data streams to be processed compared to commercial satellites such as Iridium.

In one of the tests, the satellite received and analyzed more than 1 million messages sent from ships around the world in a day. Sensors can detect when a container is opened during transport or exposed to abnormal temperatures, which can signal illegal cargo transfers.^[1]

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