China successfully tests its home-grown operating system on a satellite
What's the story
China has successfully tested its home-grown operating system in space, a major milestone in reducing dependence on foreign software. The test was conducted on the Dalian-1 Lianli CubeSat for over 1,000 hours to see how satellite subsystems performed under the OpenHarmony real-time operating system (RTOS). This is a lightweight version of Huawei's open-source operation platform and was used instead of foreign software.
Performance boost
Satellite showed improved performance
The Dalian-1 Lianli CubeSat, a suitcase-sized satellite released from China's Tiangong space station, showed improved performance with the use of OpenHarmony. The researchers found that it delivered faster data updates and improved stability compared to previous setups. "The Lianli satellite mission showed that using the OpenHarmony real-time operating system significantly improved the satellite's response speed and reliability," said Yu Xiaozhou, lead author of the study.
Self-sufficiency
First microsatellite to carry OpenHarmony RTOS
The Lianli CubeSat is the first microsatellite to carry the OpenHarmony RTOS and run on a domestically produced chip. This marks a major step toward achieving a completely home-grown hardware-software solution in the field. The success of this mission offers an alternative for spacecraft operating systems globally, according to Chinese media reports.
Future prospects
National technical standards for OpenHarmony usage proposed
Following the success of the Lianli mission, Yu and his team have proposed national technical standards for the application of OpenHarmony in small satellites. This move is aimed at promoting wider adoption, which is already underway in commercial and research satellite missions across China.