China's Guowang satellite internet network was used for a video call between research vessels operating in the Arctic Ocean and Qinling Station in Antarctica. According to a China Central Television (CCTV) report on October 8, 2026, the call's latency was under one second. An article published the next day by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation reported peak speeds of about 30 Mbps for both upload and download in polar communication tests. The network was also used to send files and ship logs from research vessels working in ice-covered waters, making this a concrete example of China's own satellite network supporting scientific observation. However, a successful connection is not the same as proof that a link can remain stable over a long period, and the two need to be assessed separately.
Video call links three Arctic research ships and an Antarctic base
The call involved three vessels from China's 16th Arctic Ocean expedition, Xuelong, Jidi and Tansuo-3, along with Qinling Station in Antarctica.
According to CCTV's report, the call took place around the Mid-Autumn Festival. Video was exchanged between ships in the Arctic Ocean and a research base in Antarctica using actual communication equipment.
China's 16th Arctic Ocean expedition also includes Xuelong 2, but the reports name only the three ships above as participants in this video call. The expedition's full fleet is not the same as the set of ships that took part in the communication test.
The figures of three ships and one base indicate how many sites took part in the call. They do not indicate the number of performance tests conducted.
Speaking to CCTV, Zhang Bin, an engineer at China's National Marine Data and Information Service, said the satellite network supported communication between the research vessels and the center and other organizations.
On operations in icy waters, he said (translated from the Japanese):
"Since we started working in the ice zone, we have been sending files and ship logs through the Xingwang equipment."
The video call is an easy achievement to grasp, but for actual observation work, the routine exchange of data matters as well.
If files and ship logs can be sent from research vessels to institutions on land, researchers and engineers far away can follow conditions in the field and support the survey work.
With such a communication environment in place, information collected in polar regions can be shared quickly, and coordination between ship and shore becomes easier.
Still, what truly matters for a communication line supporting scientific observation is whether these exchanges can continue reliably throughout a voyage.
The results were also reported through CCTV's on-site coverage and an article published by a related organization. They were not presented as a peer-reviewed paper or a preprint.
Using real equipment in a test differs from relying on simulated predictions. However, the published articles do not describe detailed measurement procedures or the results of reproduction tests by independent organizations.
Even though the CCTV and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation reports agree, that does not amount to evidence that the performance was reproduced in multiple independent experiments.
Why satellite communication is difficult in the Arctic and Antarctic
General-purpose satellite communication faces geographic constraints in high-latitude regions such as the Arctic and Antarctic.
Geostationary satellites, widely used in conventional satellite communication, orbit above the equator.
According to the European Space Agency's (ESA) explanation of orbit types, the altitude of geostationary orbit is about 35,786 km.
Because a geostationary satellite stays at nearly the same position as seen from the ground, ground antennas can be pointed in a fixed direction.
But the closer you get to the poles, the lower in the sky a satellite above the equator appears, near the horizon. As a result, satellites become hard to see from high latitudes, which makes communication difficult.
Low Earth orbit satellites, by contrast, can be placed in orbits tilted at various angles to the equatorial plane.
Using orbits that pass over the polar regions makes communication with satellites possible even at high latitudes. Multiple satellites handing off the connection one after another can also extend the time a link stays available.
A system in which many satellites work together to cover a wide area is called a satellite constellation.
However, using low Earth orbit satellites does not by itself deliver uninterrupted 24-hour communication.
Low Earth orbit satellites move around the planet at high speed, so their positions as seen from the ground keep changing. Being able to communicate at one moment does not guarantee a constant connection at that location.
Achieving stable communication requires taking into account satellite placement, orbits, available communication windows and handoffs between satellites.
Use on research vessels also brings its own challenges.
Among the challenges of satellite communication in the Arctic, ESA cites ice buildup on antennas and communication interruptions caused by rough seas.
The Guowang tests have not been reported to have encountered these problems. Even so, evaluating the practicality of polar satellite communication depends not only on satellite placement but also on how well shipboard equipment performs in harsh natural conditions.
There are also precedents for polar communication using low Earth orbit satellites.
In a case ESA announced on October 3, 2024, an OneWeb terminal installed on the Polar Pod project's supply vessel Perseverance was used for activities around the Arctic.
Guowang's result is therefore not the world's first realization of satellite communication in polar regions.
What matters is that actual communication was carried out between Arctic research ships and an Antarctic research base using China's own satellite internet network.
What sub-one-second latency and 30 Mbps peak speed show, and what they don't
The performance figures given in the reports are video call latency of under one second and a peak speed of about 30 Mbps for both upload and download.
Latency and speed, however, are different performance measures.
Latency relates to the time it takes for data to arrive. Mbps, by contrast, is a unit indicating how much data can be transferred per second.
For example, speed matters when transferring large volumes of observation data. For uses that require real-time exchange, such as video calls, the amount of latency also affects usability.
The reported figure of about 30 Mbps is a maximum, and does not mean communication was always at that speed during the voyage.
The CCTV report of October 8 and the article published by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation the next day give latency and peak speed, but do not disclose the number of measurements, how long connections lasted, or average speeds.
| Evaluation item | What was published | What can't be judged yet |
|---|---|---|
| Video call latency | Under 1 second | Measurement method and variation in latency |
| Peak speed | About 30 Mbps up and down | Average and minimum speeds |
| Number of measurements | Not stated | Reproducibility of performance |
| Connection duration | Not stated | Stability over long connections |
| Average speed | Not stated | Time needed for ordinary file transfers |
Sources: CCTV report, China Aerospace News article published by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. A comparison of what can be confirmed in the two articles.
The CCTV article gives the speed as "30 trillion," but the unit of about 30 Mbps can be confirmed in the article published by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Where the table says "Not stated," it means the item cannot be confirmed from the published articles. It does not mean the measurement was not made or that the performance cannot be achieved technically.
These differences in information matter when thinking about real-world operation.
A short video call succeeding is different from being able to transfer large volumes of observation data within a set time, and the two demand different communication performance.
Even if speeds reach a maximum of 30 Mbps, in an environment where actual speeds frequently drop or connections break, sending large files could take a long time.
Conversely, even if peak speed is not especially high, steady speeds over long periods can be quite useful for the regular transmission of ship logs and observation data.
To judge practicality for observation work, therefore, one needs to check not just peak speed but also average speed and communication stability.
For the same reason, the published figures alone cannot be used to judge whether Guowang is better or worse than satellite services such as Starlink.
The reports do not present comparison tests under matched conditions such as location, terminals and measurement times.
What can be confirmed at this point is that, under the reported conditions, a video call was established and the network could also be used to send operational data from research vessels.
Guowang plans about 13,000 satellites by 2035; polar service becoming practical is the key
China's Guowang satellite internet network plans much larger deployments of satellites going forward.
According to an article carrying China Aerospace News, the plan is to deploy about 1,300 satellites by the end of 2029 and to build a network of 12,992 satellites in total by 2035.
This is a future deployment plan, however, and does not indicate the number of satellites now operating or the coverage area available today.
China has also described the communication test as an effort to manage polar communication infrastructure domestically and handle data without sending it abroad.
This suggests that building out the satellite network aims not only at more efficient scientific observation but also at the autonomous operation of communication infrastructure.
That said, the published articles do not present detailed communication routes or the results of any third-party security audit.
It is therefore necessary to distinguish between China's stated goals of domestic control and in-country data processing, and any independent verification of the communication routes or their security.
The same goes for the effect on scientific observation.
Being able to send files and ship logs from research vessels is an important function for supporting survey work. But the fact that the communication environment has improved alone does not support the conclusion that the accuracy of climate prediction or polar research has improved.
Satellite communication is a means of sharing observation data, and the scientific results obtained from it will need to be assessed through actual research.
If data on Guowang's polar communication, such as connection availability over an entire voyage and average speeds, is released in the future, a more concrete evaluation of its practicality will become possible.
Particularly important will be whether communication can be maintained in harsh conditions such as ice buildup and bad weather, how much impact there is when a connection drops, and whether the data needed for observation work can be sent continuously.
As such operational experience accumulates, expedition teams will find it easier to use Guowang not merely as a demonstration channel but as everyday communication infrastructure linking ship and shore.
This video call was a step showing that potential. But whether it can move from showing that communication is possible in polar regions to proving that it can be used reliably in harsh conditions will be the important question in judging its future practical use.