Xinghe (communications satellite)

2024: Satellite Launch

On February 3, 2024, the Chinese telecommunications company China Mobile launched what is said to be the world's first satellite for 6G communications. The spacecraft, called Xinghe, has been successfully launched into low Earth orbit.

The Xinghe satellite ("Star Core") supports a distributed autonomous 6G architecture developed by specialists from China Mobile and the Center for Scientific Innovation in the Field of Microsatellites as part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The platform is based on hardware components manufactured in the PRC and its own software. It is said about supporting the reconstruction of software directly in orbit and automated control.

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The spacecraft is in orbit about 500 km high. It provides a high data rate at low latencies. China Mobile believes that low-orbit satellites will in the future become part of a comprehensive communication platform that combines space and ground-based information channels. Such infrastructure will provide global coverage, eliminating Internet access problems in remote regions.

Scientific American magazine reports that data rates on commercial 6G networks will be up to 1,000 times faster compared to 5G. Thus, throughput can theoretically be calculated by terabits per second. This will lead to a sharp jump in terms of the development of virtual, augmented and mixed reality services, autopilot technologies, telemedicine systems, etc. In the spring of 2023, China announced the achievement of data transfer rates in the experimental 6G network at 100 Gbps. It is expected that the first 6G services will become available to ordinary subscribers approximately in 2030 or somewhat later.^[1]

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