China has officially launched a two-year commercial trial of satellite-based Internet of Things (IoT) services to advance the country's efforts to build an integrated space-air-ground network, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced on Saturday.
The announcement was made at the China 5G+ Industrial Internet Conference, which runs from Friday to Sunday in Wuhan City, central China's Hubei Province.
Satellite IoT is a low-speed data service that uses satellite communication to connect a wide range of IoT devices, from industrial sensors to vehicles and vessels, enabling wide-area coverage in regions beyond the reach of traditional terrestrial networks. While the data rate per transmission is lower than that of mobile internet, the technology offers a vital solution for connectivity in remote or challenging environments such as oceans, mountains, and industrial corridors.
The commercial trial will last for two years, aiming to diversify the satellite communication market supply and support the safe and healthy development of emerging industries such as commercial aerospace and the low-altitude economy.
"Satellite IoT can provide comprehensive information services for vehicles, ships, drones, oil and gas pipelines, and industrial equipment, paving the way for a wide range of large-scale applications," said Liu Haijiao, deputy director of the Wireless Informatization Research Department of the Institute of Standards and Technology of China Academy of Information and Communications Technology
At an exhibition booth, Yao Wenxuan, director of the Solutions Center at Hubei Telecom, demonstrated a terminal capable of linking with the Tiantong satellite.
"This is a terminal that establishes a data link with the Tiantong satellite, and it supports a data rate of 9.6KB per second. It enables connectivity in areas that traditional conventional IoT technologies cannot cover, such as over oceans or in deep mountains," he said.
The initiative is expected to generate substantial demand for satellite launches, boosting development across the industrial chain, from satellite manufacturing to rocket launch services.
"Currently, we can produce 100 to 150 satellites weighing under 500 kilograms per year. Its applications are wide-ranging, including remote sensing, communication, and deep space exploration," said Liu Zhengfeng, deputy general manager of Hunan Satellite Technology Co., Ltd.
China launches commercial trials for satellite Internet of Things
As the world grapples with multiplying crises and a dangerous decline in international trust, a senior Uzbek lawmaker has called for greater unity and multilateral cooperation to tackle shared crises.
Sodiq Safoyev, first deputy chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis (national parliament) of Uzbekistan, said the world is navigating a complex era of "polycrisis" marked by wars, pandemics, and growing division, and that the response should not be to create new dividing lines, but to unite people and act collectively.
"Today we're living in a difficult time worldwide. Even some academicians defined the contemporary world as in a time of polycrisis or simultaneous occurrence of several catastrophic events, indeed, wars, pandemia, fragmentation of the world. And I think that it's a time not to create new division lines, but to unite the people and act together, vis-a-vis global challenges. I think that such an idea, proposed by his Excellency, Chairman [President] Xi Jinping, is very important, because it brings very clear idea that today we need to build cooperation and to think about the next generation's destiny, to save the earth from the challenges which we have," said Safoyev.
Safoyev also pushed back against the notion that deglobalization has taken hold, saying that international trade, information flows, and migration remain unstoppable. However, he warned that rising interconnectedness has been accompanied by a dangerous decline in mutual trust and understanding.
"Some people think that the process of deglobalization has started. I don't think so. I don't think that it's possible to stop international trade, flow of information, migration of people who want to study abroad, who want to work abroad. Globalization is not stopping and that's why interconnectedness of the nations only increases. But at the same time, simultaneously, we're absorbing diminishing of trust and understanding. It's a very dangerous combination. We connected, but we don't understand each other," said Safoyev.
Acknowledging that international organizations fail to meet public expectation in resolving conflicts, Safoyev said that regional mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and cooperation between China and Central Asian countries offer models for effective cooperation.
"And I think that international organizations today are not matching expectations of the people in the regard with preventing conflicts, preventing the problems and resolving them. And it's the most challenging issues of the contemporary world. And I think that's why the experience of Shanghai organizations [the Shanghai Cooperation Organization] and cooperation between China and Central Asian countries is very important to demonstrate that it's possible," said Safoyev.
He also said that Central Asia serves as a prime example of overcoming fragmentation and uniting, as the region has transformed from one plagued by border disputes, suspicion, and resource conflicts a decade ago into a cohesive, cooperating bloc.
"From the more positive side, I'd like to note that the situation in Central Asia is something which might give us some more optimism. Twenty years ago, even 10 years ago, Central Asia was divided, divided by suspicion, divided by unresolved issues like unresolved borders, many conflicts of interest in the regard with the using the water resources of the transnational water resources etc. Today, in a relatively short time, period of time, Central Asia became completely different, more and more consolidating, uniting, having joint approach to the regional problems. And that's why Central Asia started to lure more attention worldwide. We're seeing that [there are] more interests of the global actors with the Central Asia, and I think that it demonstrates to the whole world that it's possible today now to overcome fragmentation and to unite. And that's why we, as usual, have both some concerns. But at the same time, we must be optimists in looking ahead," said Safoyev.
He also said that wisdom of humanity and visionary leadership inspire optimism that building future of common shared destiny is possible.
Senior Uzbek lawmaker calls for regional unity, cooperation amid global "polycrisis"
