Two satellites named "Songjiang" and "G60" were successfully sent into pre-set orbit on Wednesday from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province.

Their launch marks a leapfrog phase in the development of satellite Internet services in Songjiang District.

The satellites were launched by a Long March-6 carrier rocket at 7:01pm.

Compared with commercial satellites launched in previous years, the multimedia commercial test satellites released this time are larger in size and weight and are equipped with more new technologies, which enable the two satellites to interconnect.

The successful blast-off wrapped up Songjiang's experimental satellite program that started in 2019, a part of a larger program of global multimedia satellite Internet development which has been progressing smoothly in Songjiang since it started.

According to district authorities, construction of satellite Internet with global coverage will inject new impetus into the domestic development of new forms of infrastructure and ultimately provide global users with high-speed, real-time, safe and reliable broadband services.

In April 2020, satellite Internet was designated by the National Development and Reform Commission as a new form of information infrastructure.

Being a promising industry, satellite Internet covers a wide range of application scenarios in the approaching 6G era, such as next-generation communications, vehicle networking, Internet of Things, digital cities and remote sensing detection.

The district is a leader in the satellite Internet industry with the successful completion of this experimental program.

Targeting a leading role in the satellite Internet industry, Songjiang has incorporated it into overall planning for new infrastructure construction with a top-level development design.

The satellite Internet industry is a pillar project in the G60 Science and Innovation Corridor and Songjiang is striving to build a low-orbit and high-throughput satellite network industry cluster represented by global multimedia networks.

Songjiang New City's G60 digital economy innovation demonstration zone has been listed in the first batch of such zones for digital transformation in the city.

By the end of 2020, Songjiang's digital economy industry had attracted more than 400 key enterprises and formed an innovative digital economy industry cluster led by industrial internet, artificial intelligence and satellite internet.

In November this year, a global digital satellite super factory with an investment of 670 million yuan (US$100 million) will break ground in Lingang Songjiang Science and Technology City.

At the same time, in order to form a relatively complete satellite manufacturing industry chain, Songjiang plans to introduce more satellite R&D and manufacturing projects, the district government said.