Love it or not, flying is necessary if we want to get to a faraway destination. Taking a flight in China can be a boring experience. This is because Chinese airlines didn't allow smartphones to be powered on during flights. However, the launch of a new Chinese satellite Shijian 13 has changed the situation. Now, many Chinese airlines allow passengers to use their smartphones freely, that is, we can finally catch up on our favorite books and songs while at 30000 feet in the air.
The communication satellite Shijian 13 can transmit (输送) 20 gigabytes (GB千兆) of data per second and cover most parts of China's land. This makes it the most powerful communication satellite China has ever developed. In fact, Shijian 13 has a higher message capacity (容量) than the total capacity of all China's communication satellites launched.
The powerful satellite has greatly improved the Internet, including that on fast-moving transportation vehicles such as planes and high-speed trains.
With shijian 13, people are able to get a download speed of up to 150 MBps on their smartphones. According to Zhou Zhicheng, head of the communications satellite department of the China Academy of Space Technology, the speed means it takes less than one minute to download a 1-GB movie. Watching online TV on planes and high-speed trains has come true.
But the satellite's benefits are far greater that that. China is trying to have 22 communication satellites in the sky by 2025. Shijian 13 will be able to cover wider areas, including mountains, oceans and deserts. When people have emergencies while hiking or sailing, the satellite can help them report and ask for help. It will also help people in natural disasters.
