China's Guowang constellation completes first Arctic-to-Antarctic satellite call
Per CCTV coverage: Arctic expedition ships used China's Guowang constellation for a video call with Antarctica's Qinling Station.
what happened
Chinese state television reported that research vessels Xuelong, Jidi and Tansuo-3, on China's 16th Arctic expedition, used the Guowang satellite-internet constellation to make a video call with personnel at Antarctica's Qinling Station, with latency under one second and peak upload and download speeds of about 30 megabits per second, per CCTV coverage carried by Sina and 163.com. The outlets describe it as the first public test of Guowang for polar communications, also used to send data files and voyage logs to China's National Marine Data and Information Service. Guowang, operated by China SatNet, plans two sub-constellations totaling 12,992 satellites, with roughly 1,300 expected in orbit by the end of 2029, per the same reports.
why it matters
The test is a visible proof point for Guowang's bid to be a sovereign alternative to Starlink, with Chinese state media framing it explicitly around keeping data onshore. For satcom resellers and polar logistics operators, a working polar link from a constellation whose deployment is still a small fraction of its planned size signals Guowang is testing coverage at the edges, not just adding capacity in populated latitudes.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- China SatNet
- Category
- constellation
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 3 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-10-07
- Published
- 2026-10-09 14:07 UTC