China surpassed Starlink with the first full-fledged 5G connection in space: for the first time, a video call was made from a satellite to a regular smartphone.
Scientists from the Chinese Satellite Network Group (China Sat Net) have successfully conducted the world's first 5G video call directly from a satellite to a standard smartphone. The experiment was conducted in May 2025 using the Guowang Satellite Network, a project that involves launching about 13,000 satellites and is a direct competitor to SpaceX's Starlink. The special feature of this achievement is that the connection was implemented using the international 5G NTN (Extraterrestrial Network) standard, that is, the smartphone was connected to the satellite using the same protocols as to terrestrial 5G networks - without the need for special equipment or modified devices.