China launches space router for first time

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China's first space router has been successfully launched atop the Long March-4B carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province.

The space router, designed and manufactured by the National University of Defense Technology, has already entered orbit.

Equipped with the self-developed operating system and network protocol stack, the router can support network protocols such as IPv4/IPv6.

It is one of the core requirements needed to build a "space-ground integrated information network," in a bid to provide Internet services for different users, as nearly half of people across the globe are yet to have Internet access, hindered by deserts, mountains, oceans or other natural environments.

While working on the space router, the National University of Defense Technology also cooperated with the governments of Foshan City in south China's Guangdong Province to set up a research center that focuses on the research and application of space network technology, in line with China's plan to achieve greater military-civilian integration.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency