A model of China's satellite communications network is on display at an expo in Beijing, Sept 22, 2015. [Photo/VCG] Satellites to provide broadband internet access in remote areas China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the nation's largest missile-maker, will launch a test satellite this year as part of an effort to build a vast space-based communications network capable of covering the entire globe with broadband internet service. Lyu Dongming, chairman of CASIC Space Engineering Development Co, said on Thursday in Wuhan, Hubei province, that a satellite will be launched into low-Earth orbit before the end of this year to demonstrate the low-orbit broadband communication technology to be used in the Hongyun satellite family. Lyu's company was established in December as a subsidiary of the CASIC Second Academy. It is tasked with the research, design and production of small, low-orbiting satellites and new-generation cargo spacecraft. It is also responsible for marketing its satellites' broadband communications services. The satellite to be launched this year was built at the company's research and production complex in Beijing and is undergoing extensive tests there, Lyu said. A vice-president of CASIC Space Engineering Development, who asked to be identified as Bei, said the satellite has a liftoff weight of 260 kilograms and is designed to last a year. It will carry Ka-band transponders and transmission antennas and will be powered by solar arrays. Lifted into orbit by a Kuaizhou 11 solid-fuel rocket, also made by CASIC, the satellite will be used to verify the company's technology to transmit large quantities of data between low-orbiting communications satellites and users on the ground. The company has begun work on four Hongyun satellites, which are designed for mass production and are expected to be in orbit before the end of 2020. Together, they will form a small network for Hongyun's trial run, Lyu said. The Hongyun project, initiated by CASIC in September 2016, aims to build a space-based communications network of 156 small satellites in orbits about 1,000 kilometers above the ground that will become operational around 2025. After the constellation of satellites takes shape, users who pay will be able to make calls and connect to the internet anywhere in the world via a portable device, Bei said, noting that access to telecommunication and the internet are generally unavailable in deserts, on small islands and in polar regions. He said the system will feature lower production and operational costs and lower occurrence of data transmission delays compared with existing communications satellite networks. Zhang Zhongyang, president of the CASIC Second Academy, said Hongyun will enable users to enjoy broadband internet service whether they are in the desert, on the ocean or aboard an airliner. custom id braceletslokai rubber bracelet80s rubber braceletsbuy wristbands near mecustom rubber bracelets
Premier Li Keqiang visits Shanghai Roche Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a company specializing in anti-cancer drugs, on April 10, 2018. [Photo/gov.cn] Premier Li Keqiang urged more efforts in reducing the price of anti-cancer drugs after a hit movie drew people's attention to the dilemma faced by cancer patients. The fact patients with cancer and other serious diseases can't afford, have no access to or cannot wait to buy imported 'lifesaving drugs' highlights the urgency of reducing drug prices and ensuring supply, Li said in a written instruction in response to heated discussions following the screening of Dying to Survive. The movie is about a man smuggling unapproved drugs from India to get affordable medicine for leukemia patients in China. It costs too much for a family with a cancer patient. Cancer has been identified as the No 1 killer threatening people's health, the Premier said. We'll do our best to save them and relieve the burden on their family. Measures must be taken to shorten the drug circulation process and speed up the reduction of drug prices, so our people can get more tangible benefits, Li said. China removed import tariffs on anti-cancer drugs starting in May and lowered value-added tax on the production and import of the drugs. State Council executive meetings held in April and June also pledged to eliminate unreasonable prices and surcharges through government procurement, cross-border e-commerce and inclusion of drugs patients desperately need in medical insurance. According to the National Center for Cancer, China accounted for nearly one-fourth of the world's cancer cases, with 4.29 million people diagnosed with cancer every year. The poster for Dying to Survive, a film about a man smuggling unapproved drugs from India to get affordable medicine for leukemia patients in China. [Photo provided to Chinadaily.com.cn]
