Chinese scientists have developed the world's first satellite capable of enabling smartphone calls directly, without the need for ground-based infrastructure.
It is named "Tiantong," which translates to "connecting with heaven,"
The initiative draws inspiration from the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, aiming to bridge communication gaps rather than create them.
The Tiantong-1 satellite series, now includes three satellites in a geosynchronous orbit at 36,000km, covering the entire Asia-Pacific region.
This breakthrough came to the fruition when Huawei Technologies released the world’s first smartphone supporting satellite calls in last September.