The unique experiment conducted by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation witnessed a video call connecting researchers stationed in the Arctic with the Qinling station located in the Antarctic, via the ambitious Guowang satellite network. Three polar ships participated
in these field tests, with ship records and data sent directly to the National Marine Data Center of China, registering a maximum speed of thirty megabits per second, which is sufficient for video calls and daily data exchange, despite the
network remaining behind the Starlink system which owns thousands of satellites and speeds ranging between twenty-five and two20 megabits per second, at a time when Beijing has another project named Qianfan planned to include fifteen thousand satellites. The Qianfan project,
which means a thousand sails, is known as an advanced Chinese initiative aimed at establishing a satellite constellation for the internet within low Earth orbit to respond to the American system. The project is operated by Shanghai SpaceSail Technologies, affiliated
with the Shanghai municipality, which provided huge initial funding and is working on a new funding round without any foreign capital. The initiative aims to secure comprehensive and broadband internet coverage to address isolated areas such as oceans, mountains, deserts,
and polar regions that terrestrial networks fail to reach, alongside enhancing direct smartphone communication and supporting national security and digital sovereignty by reserving orbits and frequencies early. The project timeline is distributed over two phases involving the deployment of thousands
of satellites leading to the ultimate goal, with hundreds of satellites currently operating steadily in orbits ranging between three hundred and two thousand kilometers, registering high download and upload speeds and response times approaching terrestrial internet, which enhances China's strategic
importance in the space and low orbit race to dispense with foreign infrastructures and provide a reliable defense line during emergencies.
