09 April 2018
Software-based satellitea, which takes advantage of the internet's open source, can work in a way similar to the Android operating system to research and develop its software and hardware. Customers can use the platform to develop, test and debug software. "The satellite Tianzhi 1 will be sent mainly to lay the foundation for a network and to test key technologies for the software-defined satellite system. We are planning to send one satellite each year to enrich the system,"  Zhao Junsuo, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Software where the satellite was developed, told the Global Times on 08 April.
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photos of Tianzhi 1 on the CCTV website