Huang Heping, director of international business development of GalaxySpace, checks the operation status of the low-orbit communication network in MUT on May 17. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By LIANG Yilian

The first overseas application and exploration of China's low-orbit broadband satellite internet was recently established by GalaxySpace, a private satellite maker in Beijing, at a ground testing station at the Mahanakorn University of Technology (MUT) in Thailand.

GalaxySpace built a ground testing station based on the low-orbit broadband internet test constellation Mini Spider at MUT, including important components such as a mobile signal station and satellite communication terminal. This realized the test verification of a low-orbit broadband satellite internet communication network, and has gone on to continuously observe the communication capability of millimeter-wave band satellite signals under local meteorological conditions.

GalaxySpace, a satellite internet solution provider and satellite manufacturer in China, constructed China's first low-orbit broadband communication test constellation Mini Spider, which has completed a number of China's first satellite internet application verifications.

Satellite internet, represented by large low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations for broadband data communication, has become significant in recent years due to its full coverage, high bandwidth, low signal delay and relatively low cost. Its coverage means that satellite communications are no longer affected by geography, enabling global network reach, according to Zhang Shijie, chief scientist at GalaxySpace.

"The LEO satellites are typically positioned at heights not exceeding 2,000 km, while the GalaxySpace satellites constellation orbits are at approximately 500 km altitude. Based on preliminary testing of the Mini Spider, we achieved maximum download speeds of around 250 Mbps, upload speeds of about 210 Mbps, and minimum latency of approximately 32 ms," Panavy Pookaiyaudom, president of MUT, told The Nation, an English news website in Thailand.

To put it simply, internet communication via the GalaxySpace satellite constellation is more efficient compared to using internet from smartphones utilizing 5G technology in Thailand, which typically reach maximum download speeds of around 175 Mbps, upload speeds of about 23 Mbps, and latency of approximately 28-34 ms,"said Pookaiyaudom.

This cooperation provides a platform that local enterprises and universities can use to research low-orbit satellite communication systems, and helps boost the development of Thailand's related technological capabilities and application scenarios, said Liu Chang, vice president of GalaxySpace.