Smartphone satellite: Qihoo 360 to become first Chinese private company to send rocket into space - on New Year’s Day
Company vows to launch latest handset as de facto nanosatellite to photograph earth and smog, shows echoes of Nasa’s PhoneSat project
Chinese internet company Qihoo 360 Technology will send a smartphone into space on January 1 from the nation’s new space launch centre on southern Hainan Island, it said this week.
Apart from getting 2016 off to an auspicious start, the event also marks the first rocket launch by a private company in the history of China’s space programme.
Once in orbit, the handset will effectively operate like a small satellite. It is expected to use a high-definition camera to take photographs of the earth and possibly record the notorious smog that hangs over China during the winter months, when coal is used to keep people warm in the frozen north.
The first model was released this August. Coincidentally, several, including the Q Terra and Q Luna, have cosmic-sounding names. Qihoo retains a controlling 75 per cent stake in the JV.