Geespace said on Friday it launched a third batch of satellites. This is part of its plan to form a mega constellation it described as China’s equivalent of U.S. firm SpaceX’s Starlink.
The 10 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites were launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre. The centre is located in the northern province of Shanxi, Geespace said in a statement.
“With this latest launch, the constellation now includes 30 satellites. It covers 90% of the globe with 24-hour communication services,” Geespace said.
The carmaker’s Geely Technology Group created Geespace to research, launch, and operate low-orbit satellites in 2018.
LEO satellites usually operate at altitudes of 300-2,000 km (186-1243 miles) above the Earth’s surface. They have the advantage of being cheaper and provide more efficient transmission than satellites at higher orbits.
Geespace placed its first 20 satellites in orbit in two separate launches, in 2022 and earlier this year.
It plans to build a constellation of nearly 6,000 LEO satellites that would provide global broadband, the company said. It described the constellation as “China’s private equivalent to ‘Starlink'”.
SpaceX’s Starlink is a growing commercial broadband constellation that has about 5,500 satellites in space and is used by consumers, companies and government agencies.
Starlink, operated by billionaire Elon Musk, has tens of thousands of users in the United States and plans to add tens of thousands more satellites to its system, the largest of its kind.
Geespace’s Friday satellite launch is part of its first construction phase for its constellation. It aims to put 72 satellites in orbit to service over 200 million users worldwide by the end of 2025.
The second phase will add 264 satellites for mobile phone communications. The third phase will launch 5,676 satellites for high-speed broadband.
Geespace is one of several Chinese firms hoping to rival Starlink.
(with inputs from Reuters)
