The internet speed abroad is 10 times faster than that in China. Where is the broadband satellite in China?

Recently, Asia-Pacific Satellite Broadband Communication Company (hereinafter referred to as Asia-Pacific Satellite) jointly established by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and the Ministry of Transport released the global broadband satellite communication system plan. According to the plan, three Qualcomm-based broadband satellites independently developed and manufactured by China will be launched in 20 19, 2022 and 2025 respectively, gradually completing the global coverage from Asia to Europe, Africa and North and South America.

From the overall concept of constellation, the global broadband satellite communication system of Asia-Pacific satellite can stand on the world-class line. However, as far as the "Asia-Pacific 6D" satellite which will be launched on 20 19 and cover Asia is concerned, its bandwidth is still nearly ten times lower than that of similar satellites in the West.

The picture shows the "Asia-Pacific 6D" broadband satellite to be launched this year, and its strong signal area basically covers East Asia.

Specifically, the "Asia-Pacific 6D" broadband satellite is developed based on the most advanced and mature "Dongfanghong-4 enhanced" communication satellite platform in China. By carrying 32 Ka-band transponders, the total bandwidth capacity is 50Gbps, which is 2.5 times that of the strongest communication satellite "Shi Jian 13" in China.

However, in the circle of "Qualcomm Broadband Satellite", the bandwidth of many western satellites has reached several times or even ten times that of "Asia-Pacific 6D". Two years ago, the bandwidth of ViaSat-2 broadband satellite launched at the same time as "Practice 13" has reached 300Gbps, which is six times that of "Asia-Pacific 6D".

The picture shows ViaSat-2 broadband satellite in darkroom test stage, which is extremely large in size and weight.

Among the broadband satellites to be launched in Qualcomm in the same period of 20 19, the "Jupiter -3" broadband satellite of Hughes Networks of the United States also has a bandwidth of more than 500Gbps, and the bandwidth of ViaSat-3, an iterative product of Viasat, has reached 1000Gbps, which has opened a gap of more than one order of magnitude with "Asia-Pacific 6D".

As far as satellite products with the same bandwidth are concerned, "Asia-Pacific 6D" is basically equivalent to the European Inmarsat-3 satellite in 20 15 years, and even worse than ViaSat- 1 20/year, which had the bandwidth capacity of 140Gbps at that time and could provide nationwide coverage.

In a word, China has a big gap in the field of broadband satellites in Qualcomm-but it is hard to imagine that this is not the satellite's own problem: the enhanced platform Dongfanghong-4 used by Asia-Pacific 6D almost exhausted the full potential of the basic platform of Dongfanghong-4, and the space and weight utilization efficiency reached the limit level.