(Yicai) May 10 -- China launched its first satellite in its Smart Skynet broadband internet constellation yesterday at a higher orbit than that of US competitor Starlink, whose satellites are placed in low-earth-orbit, as part of the country’s ambitious satellite connectivity plans.

A Long March-3B rocket carrying the Smart SkyNet-1 01 satellite blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, Xinhua New Agency reported yesterday.

It is the first of eight satellites that will orbit the earth at an altitude of 20,000 kilometers as part of a space-based internet service developed by satellite communication firm Qingshen Technology Development, which was set up in 2018 by Tsinghua University and Lingang Group, a developer in the Lingang New Area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

The constellation will eventually be expanded to 16 or 32 satellites and will be able to provide network services to the whole world, the report said.

The Smart SkyNet-1 01 will mainly carry out technical tests, such as establishing a data connection channel between China and the Antarctic research station as well as carrying out preliminary technology accumulation for the networking project, said developer Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, which is part of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and is one of the country’s largest suppliers of advanced aerospace technology.

Editor: Kim Taylor