"Tianlian" relay satellites—only the U.S. and China possess full independent capabilities, marking global strategic powers!
On the morning of September 9, the "Tiangong Classroom · Hong Kong and Macao Special Session" officially began. Astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Li Jiaying from the Shenzhou-23 crew served as space teachers, delivering a space lecture to students in Hong Kong and Macao, followed by interactive communication between Earth and space.
This live broadcast lasted one and a half hours, utilizing high-definition video data transmission with smooth visuals and minimal latency. We all know that China's space station orbits Earth every 90 minutes. When it moves to the far side of Earth, signals are lost—this is where geostationary orbit relay satellites come into play.
China’s "Tianlian" relay satellites are deployed in a geostationary orbit at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers, specifically tasked with receiving signals from the space station and relaying them back to ground stations. During this event, three relay satellites provided continuous handover coverage, with two additional backup satellites on standby, ensuring uninterrupted signal transmission throughout. From China’s first space teaching session in 2013 to today, every seamless conversation and every successful space lecture has been made possible by China’s solid aerospace strength.
The ability to achieve long-duration, high-capacity, and stable Earth-space communications underscores the significance of the Tianlian relay satellite system—it is a hallmark of a major power’s global strategic capability. The Tianlian relay satellites are of immense importance to China’s aerospace strength, and even more critical to China’s strategic weapons systems and global operational reach.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1875945225332748/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.