Chinese researchers make Arctic-to-Antarctic call using rival to Musk’s Starlink
Marcus Chen
Managing Editor · Friday, October 9, 2026 at 12:00 PM · 1 min read

Polar researchers have used a would-be Chinese rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink to make a satellite video call between the Arctic and Antarctic – the first publicly reported test of the Guowang constellation. The call highlights the growing capabilities of the country’s satellite constellations, according to state media. Beijing has been accelerating the development of its low-Earth-orbit constellations in recent years, particularly as the US-based Starlink showed its wartime value by helping...