An experiment was carried out in Zhoushan adjacent sea area of East China Sea on August 16-19 to test the "Smart Ocean" emergency communication network through a shipboard tethered balloon platform developed by the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

This experiment is part of the demonstration and integration project of the shipborne system of "Smart Ocean" emergency communication network. Utilizing AIR developed shipborne KX-15 tethered balloon platform which carries emergency communication payloads of 30kg, and lifts 300 meters over the sea, this experiment has tested the functions and performances such as AIS data reception, SOS data reception, long term evolution (LTE) signal coverage, and line-of-sight microwave transmission.

When public mobile network is unavailable at sea, the emergency communication network made it available for the end users to harness LTE base station onboard the balloon to access the shore-based Core Network via a satellite communication link or a line-of-sight microwave link.

The "Smart Ocean" emergency communication network project is conducted by AIR and other six domestic institutes. The project aims to build the emergency communication capability in the sea areas of East China Sea and South China Sea, with focuses on marine disaster prevention and mitigation and emergency responses.

Thanks to two-year joint efforts of research teams from AIR, including the Center for LTA system R&D as well as the Navigation System Department, the shipborne tethered balloon emergency communication subsystem has completed integration testing, entering the next stage of demonstrative application within the big framework of "Smart Ocean".

Shipboard tethered balloon platform tested for emergency communication.