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China's space programme
ChinaScience

China space laser zaps competition with data speed record: paper

  • Beijing-based team says its technology can connect satellites to beam six films a second coast-to-coast, from a device smaller than a suitcase
  • Engineers use ‘rule-breaking’ innovations to achieve transmission speeds of 10 gigabits per second in on-ground testing

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Chinese space engineers are developing technology to help satellites identify each other and establish a “handshake” in just 12 seconds. Photo: Shutterstock
Stephen Chen
A team of engineers in Beijing has developed a small space laser that they say will allow satellites to communicate over long distances at significantly faster speeds than similar technology currently available.

The technology is fast enough to send six high-definition films from Seattle to New York in less than a second, according to research team leader Yang Jian, director of advanced communication technology with defence industry contractor the Beijing Institute of Remote Sensing Equipment.

In a paper published last week in domestic peer-reviewed journal Optical Communication Technology, Yang and his colleagues said the device – smaller than a suitcase and weighing just 12kg (26.4lbs) – would help China build a massive internet-like structure in Earth’s near-orbit and beyond.

The technology was initially developed for an unnamed space project and has a working range of more than 4,000km (2,485 miles), with an average speed of 10 gigabits per second.

In contrast, Japan’s JDRS-1 laser satellite – launched in 2020 to relay data between spy satellites – can reach up to 1.8 gigabits per second, while the US military’s Next Generation Space Architecture plans to achieve a global network of laser satellites with a bandwidth of from 250 megabits per second to one gigabit by 2028.

The commercially owned SpaceX in the US established a link between two of its Starlink satellites during a laser communication experiment in 2020. The transmission speed was not revealed, but company founder Elon Musk said he expected future developments to increase speeds to 10 gigabits per second.

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