Chinese aerospace giant unveils first smartphone for country’s satellite communications network
Launch linked to ‘space-based Silk Road’ strategy
One of China’s top aerospace technology companies unveiled the first satellite smartphone designed for use with the country’s a first mobile communications satellite, Tiantong-1 (TT-1), at the six-day Airshow China in Zhuhai, Guangdong, which wraps up on Sunday.
The new smartphone, developed by state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), is scheduled to go on sale in two to three months, where it will compete in a global market dominated by the British Inmarsat system.
We are going to expand our coverage to the whole world by launching a network TT satellites in the next five years
CASC launched TT-1 into an equator-hugging, geostationary orbit about 35,000km above the earth on August 6.
Satellite experts said the new satellite smartphone was a product of the “space-based Silk Road”, a long-term strategy proposed by Chinese aerospace companies, institutions and scholars to support the country’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative.
“The TT-1 smartphone is so far capable of covering the territory of China and the whole South China Sea,” an engineer from CASC’s Fifth Academy, based in Xian, Shaanxi province, said. “We are going to expand our coverage to the whole world by launching a network TT satellites in the next five years, because our ultimate goal is to replace Inmarsat, or even surpass it.”
The engineer said the smartphone was specially designed for emergency communication by field geologists or relief workers in remote areas, or when ground telecommunication networks were interrupted by natural disaster or accidents.