Chinese astronauts rely on Hytera for safe return

Inner Mongolia, China, saw the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft safely land on 16 April 2022, after six months aboard China’s newest orbital station in the longest crewed mission to date for the country’s space program. The spacecraft carrying three astronauts landed in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, about nine hours after departing from the core Tianhe module of Tiangong space station.

Hytera provided communication support for both the safe landing of the Shenzhou-13 return capsule, as well as the astronauts. With the capsule landing site in Gobi Desert, the largest desert in Asia where cellular coverage can be patchy or even non-existent, the ground rescue and recovery team was in need of a reliable and portable communication system to coordinate and dispatch team members efficiently.

Adopting a Hytera DMR communication system, the team can be divided into convenient talk groups, so only the relevant group needs to hear the call, ensuring smooth and discreet operations.

Inner Mongolia constitutes approximately 12% of China’s total land area, due to its long span from east to west along the northern Chinese border; yet its population accounts for only 1.84% of the total Chinese population.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre has documented more launches than any other launch facility in China and is the only launch site for the Shenzhou manned space missions. Inner Mongolia is also home to the only two space vehicles landing sites in China.

The Hytera system also integrates GPS function to enable team members to be monitored and located outdoors, while Bluetooth or RFID technology in the radio can be integrated with beacons and RFID tags to provide indoor location fixes. Location technology means users can be quickly located in the case of trouble by pressing the emergency button or if a preset automatic alarm is triggered.

Left to right: Astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu are out of the return capsule of the Shenzhou-13 spaceship at the Dongfeng landing site in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region on 16 April 2022.

Hytera DMR radio systems can also be integrated with fixed telephony systems, cellular networks, CCTV platforms and Internet of Things (IoT) sensor data to provide access to a wider range of data and to enable communications with people without radios or outside the DMR coverage area.

Images credit: Xinhua