China’s Jidi icebreaker used Chinese-developed satellite internet to link an Arctic expedition with research sites in Antarctica and on the Tibetan Plateau, while also supporting medical consultations at sea. According to reporting attributed to MTI and Global Times, this was the first successful test of the Chinese-developed connection between the three regions.
The expedition departed on July 3 and tested the system along Arctic shipping routes. The team aboard Jidi established video links with three endpoints: the Qinling research station in Antarctica, a test station by the Lhasa River in Tibet, and a ministry office in Qingdao, eastern China.
According to the expedition, the system maintained a stable, high-bandwidth data connection with low transmission latency, even in extreme weather. This was an operational trial during an expedition, however, not evidence that a fully deployed service is available.
Polar researchers also used the connection for healthcare, consulting doctors at Chinese hospitals through high-resolution video calls from the ship. Expedition participant Zhang Meng said Jidi supported more than 40 video medical consultations during the voyage and sent and received more than 300 files totaling over 100 gigabytes.
The team also tested Csekan, a Chinese-developed marine measurement buoy. It allowed measurement data collection and transmission to be controlled entirely with Chinese equipment. The system could offer an alternative to foreign satellite solutions for real-time ocean data transmission.
According to the expedition, the technology could improve communications in remote, hard-to-reach areas where conventional networks are unavailable or coverage is limited.
