Satellite-based SMS opens to mobile users

Thanks to the Beidou Navigation Satellite System, China has launched a new short messaging service that provides reliable communication for people in distress when ground-based mobile networks are unavailable.

China Space-Time Information, the State-owned operator of Beidou services, has collaborated with the nation's three primary telecom operators — China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom — to enable paying users to access the Beidou-based short messaging service if their mobile phones support the function. Users do not need to change their SIM card or phone number and can send and receive text messages directly via Beidou satellites in areas without cellular coverage.

Leading Chinese mobile phone makers such as Huawei and Xiaomi have released nearly 60 models compatible with this functionality. China Space-Time Information stated that the service is intended to supplement conventional mobile networks, ensuring safety and communication reliability in scenarios such as hiking in remote mountains, working at sea, and engaging in disaster relief and emergency response. The company plans to continue collaborating with mobile phone companies to develop more phones that support Beidou messaging.

Beidou is China's largest civilian satellite system and one of the four global navigation networks, alongside the United States' GPS, Russia's GLONASS, and the European Union's Galileo. Since 2000, 64 Beidou satellites, including four experimental ones, have been launched on 47 Long March 3 series rockets from Xichang. The system was declared complete in July 2020 and began providing full-scale global services. Currently, more than 50 Beidou satellites are in active service, operating in multiple types of orbits.

According to the most recent statistics from the Global Navigation Satellite System and Location-Based Services Association of China, the overall value of satellite-enabled navigation and positioning services in China reached about 576 billion yuan ($83 billion) by the end of 2024, a 7.39 percent year-on-year increase. The combined output of chips, equipment, software, data, and infrastructure totaled 170 billion yuan in that year.

Established in April 2024, China Space-Time Information is a joint venture of three State-owned conglomerates: China Satellite Network Group, China North Industries Group Corp, and China Mobile. The company is involved in satellite navigation and communications, big data services, artificial intelligence development, and geospatial remote sensing operations. China Satellite Network Group is the nation's major operator of space-based internet networks. China North Industries Group Corp is the country's largest maker of land armaments. China Mobile is the world's largest telecom carrier in terms of mobile subscribers.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn