中国范儿 75 虹云工程：超级“WiFi”离我们不远了

No mobile phone signal in mountainous areas, at sea or on the plane will be a thing of the past. We are going to usher in a new era in which every corner of the earth can enjoy full mobile phone signal coverage. Hongyun Project, the one that is supposed to make this happen, has started its construction. At 7:51 am, December 22 of 2018, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) launched its first satellite as part of the Hongyun Project, marking a concrete step in China’s effort to build a low-orbit broadband communication satellite system.

As one of the five commercial aerospace projects of CASIC, Hongyun Project intends to place 156 satellites on orbits, which will function as “routers in the space” about 1,000 kilometers above the ground. According to the plan, it will form a satellite-based communication network capable of covering the entire world with broadband internet service. The ultimate objective is to offer seamless WIFI and communication services around the globe with reduced latency.

Due to geographical constraints like the desert, mountain, and sea, half of the world population still cannot get access to the internet. The resultant information scarcity has stymied economic and social development in various parts of the world. Hongyun Project aims to change this situation. After its satellite constellation is completed, scheduled around 2022, it will provide internet access to people from the North Pole to the South Pole and from the “roof of the world” to the Everest. People can enjoy reliable navigation and communication services even in the deep desert, at sea, or in the jungle. They can also enjoy information connectivity no matter on a plane, on a cruise ship, on a bullet train or in a car. The internet speed and service quality are no different from those people enjoy at home. The peak data rate can reach 400 Mbps in theory.

Globally, many countries have embarked on building a low-orbit satellite network to provide broadband communications and internet services. With the significant technological breakthrough represented by Hongyun Project, China has caught up with international frontrunners and even become a pacesetter in certain aspects.

Hongyun Project will boost the development of China’s commercial aerospace industry. It is supposed to offer services to airplanes, ships, passenger vehicles, and operation areas in the wild on the one hand and serve operational teams and the remote villages and islands on the other. In the future, Hongyun Project can expand its services to include areas as drones and driverless automobile industry, etc. China’s aerospace industry has made fast strides in the application of space technologies in recent years. Thanks to this development, the prospect of “life betterment by aerospace industry” is becoming a reality. This convinced an increasing number of people to realize that the aerospace industry is intimately related to their lives.

来源：中国网

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