Geostationary

TIANLIAN 1-04

Data Relay · CNSA

Part of China's Tianlian (Sky-Link) data relay constellation — China's equivalent of NASA's TDRS system. Tianlian satellites relay communications and data from Chinese crewed spacecraft, the Tiangong space station, and robotic missions to ground stations in China. Without Tianlian, Chinese astronauts would be in contact with ground control only during the roughly 10-15 minutes per orbit when their spacecraft is over Chinese territory. Tianlian-1-04 provides coverage of the Asia-Pacific region and the vast Pacific Ocean.