China has launched three new test communication satellites into low Earth orbit as it works to develop its own version of SpaceX's Starlink broadband constellation.
According to Chinese state media, a Yuanzheng-1S upper stage deployed three satellites, all of which are planned to conduct testing and verifications of in-orbit communication technologies.
As a counter to SpaceX's Starlink and other broadband constellations, such as the network OneWeb, China plans to build a 13,000-satellite mega constellation in low Earth orbit.
In April 2021, the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), which oversees state-owned companies, released a press statement announcing the formation of the China Satellite Network Group Co. Ltd.
Senior space industry officials stated earlier this year that a firm would be formed to supervise a national low Earth orbit broadband constellation.
Notably, two of the satellites were created by Changguang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd., a remote sensing satellite developer and operator spun off from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The spacecraft includes inter-satellite laser communications payloads created by another CAS institute, which could allow satellites to communicate with one another while reducing the need for base stations on Earth.
The other satellite was built by Aerospace Dongfanghong Satellite Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), which is itself a significant spacecraft-building institute under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
Companies engaged in the new launch, as well as others like Galaxy Space, which launched six test satellites in March, could be in the running for contracts to expand up the constellation.
The timescale for constellation construction, intended end-users, and how the system will be accessed and marketed were all unknowns when the announcement was made last year. China's previously disclosed LEO constellation plans said that they will provide communications for Belt and Road countries as well as rural areas.
This is the latest in a series of governmental directives and measures aimed at developing a low-earth-orbit communications network. In April 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China put "satellite internet" to its list of "new infrastructures."
The 14th Five-year Plan, which was just approved, calls for an integrated network of communications, Earth observation, and navigation satellites, as well as "long-range objectives through 2035."
China Satellite Network Group will be headquartered in Xiong'an New Area, a state-level new district established in 2017 in the Baoding area of Hebei, China.
