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China to start building 5G satellite network to challenge Elon Musk’s Starlink
- The project by start-up GalaxySpace aims to compete with the US company by offering high-speed internet services to remote areas
- The constellation of satellites will be far smaller than Starlink’s, but scientists involved in the project say it will offer speeds of up to 500 Mbps
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China will start building a network of a thousand satellites to provide 5G coverage within the next three months, according to state media reports.
The first batch of six low-cost, high-performance communication satellites have been produced, tested and arrived at an undisclosed launch site, according to a report by the state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday.
The company behind the project, Beijing-based start-up GalaxySpace, has said it wants to extend China’s 5G coverage around the world and compete with Starlink, owned by Elon Musk’s firm SpaceX, in the market for high-speed internet services in remote areas.
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The Chinese constellation is small compared with Starlink, which already has around 2,000 satellites in orbit and plans to expand this to 42,000 when the network is complete.
Despite its smaller size, the 1,000-satellite Chinese network will be the first of its kind to use 5G technology.
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Scientists involved in the project say this will ensure download speeds of more than 500 megabits per second with a low latency that will be a critical advantage in some demanding applications such as financial trading.
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