China has unveiled its first satellite smartphone capable of covering the whole country and the disputed South China Sea. The satellite phone is designed for use with the country’s a first mobile communications satellite, Tiantong-1 (TT-1), at the six-day Airshow China in Zhuhai, Guangdong, which ended on Sunday.
China unveiled its J-20 stealth aircraft at the airshow. The new smartphone, developed by state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), is scheduled to go on sale in two to three months, where it will compete in a global market dominated by the British Inmarsat system, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Satellite experts said the new satellite smartphone was a product of the “space-based Silk Road”, a long-term strategy proposed by Chinese aerospace companies, institutions and scholars to support the country’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative.