First Satellite of the Hongyun Project Launched on Feb 22, 2018

CASIC launches the first satellite of its Hongyun project on Feb 22, 2018. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

First satellite of the Hongyun project launched on Feb 22, 2018

The first satellite of the Hongyun project was launched on Feb 22, 2018 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province.

The launch marked that China had made substantive progress in creating a low-orbit wideband communication satellite system.

Initiated by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Limited (CASIC), the Hongyun project was designed to put 156 satellites in orbit at an altitude of about 1,000 kilometers. They were expected to act as spatial routers to form a global mobile internet and to provide connectivity with low latency to users anywhere around the world.

Karot Hydropower Project, the first large-scale project of its kind of the Belt and Road Initiative, starts construction on Feb 22, 2017

The Karot Hydropower Project in Pakistan began construction on Feb 22, 2017.

The first large-scale Belt and Road Initiative project of its kind invested and built by Chinese central SOEs, the project was also the first hydropower investment in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the first project of the Silk Road Fund.

Contracted by China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), the project has an installed capacity of 720,000 kW to annually produce about 3.2 billion kWh of clean electricity which is a reliable power supply for Pakistan's economic and social development.

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)