Securing the CPC Centenary Broadcast: How Dagong Technology's Tethered UAV Redefined Aerial Live-Streaming and Emergency Rescue

Beijing, China — On July 1, 2021, as the world watched the epic celebrations of the CPC Centenary at Tiananmen Square, a silent technological marvel was at work a hundred meters above. Beijing Dagong Technology Co., Ltd.’s tethered UAV system, acting as CCTV’s indomitable "aerial tripod," delivered breathtaking, zero-latency panoramic broadcasts to billions of global viewers. This historic deployment not only secured the ultimate "national test" for aerial live-streaming but unequivocally proved that a single photoelectric composite tether cable has evolved from a mere power line into a critical "lifeline" for both national prestige and emergency disaster rescue.

For decades, aerial broadcasting and emergency communications were throttled by the 30-minute battery curse and signal instability of conventional drones. Dagong Technology, founded in 2015 by an elite R&D team from Tsinghua University and Beihang University, eradicated these bottlenecks with a revolutionary "umbilical cord"—a specialized photoelectric composite tether cable. By transmitting thousands of volts of DC power from the ground whilst utilizing built-in fiber optics for data, the system achieved over 24 hours of uninterrupted hovering and near-zero-delay, broadcast-grade transmission.

It was precisely this 12G bandwidth real-time transmission capability and extraordinary hovering precision that led CCTV to select Dagong Technology’s tethered UAV for the CPC Centenary and the 70th Anniversary National Day celebrations. Hovering steadfastly above Chang'an Avenue with a pinpoint accuracy of ±0.3 meters, the drone captured the majestic scope of the nation's most hallowed events, cementing its status as the most reliable "aerial cameraman" in the industry.

However, the tethered UAV's significance extends far beyond ceremonial "high-light moments"; it is a vanguard of the "Golden Hour" in disaster rescue. Before its triumphant broadcast at Tiananmen, the technology had already been battle-tested in the nation's darkest hours. During the 2017 Jiuzhaigou earthquake, Dagong Technology and China Mobile deployed the world's first tethered UAV high-altitude base station, restoring 4G signals for 3,000 trapped residents within three hours. From the 2022 China Eastern Airlines crash to the 2023 Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Typhoon Doksuri floods, and the 2025 Xizang earthquake, the system has repeatedly operated continuously for 72 hours in extreme environments where power grids collapsed and roads severed, serving as an indestructible "aerial communication tower."

Driving this dual-capability in broadcasting and lifesaving is Dagong Technology’s formidable technological moat. Recognized as a "Specialized, Refined, Differential, and Innovative" enterprise with over 100 independent intellectual property rights, the company's core advantages are unparalleled:

· Ultimate Reliability: A dual-redundancy flight control system with an automatic power-failure safeguard ensures a safe landing within 30 seconds. Integrated with proprietary anti-wind algorithms, it maintains ±0.3m hovering precision even in Level 7 gales at 5,600-meter altitudes.

· Industry-Leading Ceiling & Payload: Shattering industry limits, the system has progressed from 100m to a staggering 600-meter operational ceiling, whilst retaining a massive 35kg payload capacity at 300 meters.

· GNSS-Free Navigation: Integrating visual positioning and laser ranging, the latest generation operates flawlessly in satellite-denied or electromagnetically contested environments.

Through modular design, a single tethered UAV platform can seamlessly switch between 5G base stations, broadcast cameras, infrared thermal imagers, and LiDAR, achieving "one machine, multiple capabilities" across public security, border patrol, and environmental monitoring.

Today, the tethered UAV is no longer just an aircraft; it is an "airborne new infrastructure" node. In 2025, Dagong Technology’s DG-M20 system was honorably inducted into the National Museum of China’s "Network Development New Blueprint Achievement Exhibition," cementing its status as a national benchmark. Freshly empowered by tens of millions in Series B funding, the company is aggressively transitioning from a hardware supplier to an "Air-Space-Ground Integrated Solution Provider," embedding its drones into smart city networks and high-altitude computing platforms.

As founder Shen Shizhou declared: "We must not only let the world see China through our lenses, but let Chinese standards lead global industry development." From capturing the epic sweep of national celebrations to reconnecting severed lifelines in disaster zones, Dagong Technology’s tethered UAV continues to define the very ceiling of China's low-altitude economy.