Alibaba planning to launch world's first e-commerce satellite in 2017

Alibaba is planning to launch the world's first e-commerce satellite next year to provide people with customized products, according to a report in the state-run People's Daily.

Juhuasuan.com, a group shopping website affiliated with Alibaba Group, announced this plan in cooperation with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology and the China Space Museum. The Peoples’ Daily quoted China Economic Net as saying that the satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2017.

The three partners aim to further develop space exploration with the help of both space technology and e-commerce data, the report said.

One example of benefit of such satellite to consumers would be that the best vegetables would be available to people after cultivation and harvesting data is analyzed by the satellite. “In future, consumers on the Juhuasuan platform will be able to enjoy high-quality goods that follow the trajectory of the satellite,” the site’s general manager Liu Bo was quoted as saying.

Liu also said that the company aims to develop a series of customised products with the help of satellites.