China uses laser for 10 times faster satellite-to-ground communication in major breakthrough

Team at CAS institute uses laser instead of microwaves to hit 10 Gbps space-to-ground data transfer speed from satellite in Jilin-1 constellation

Feat represents first such ‘ultra-high-speed’ test for business applications in China, chief designer at company behind satellite says

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An image of Doha, the capital of Qatar, transmitted by China’s Jilin-1 MF02A04 satellite, part of a 108-strong constellation. Photo: Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Published: 8:04pm, 30 Jun 2023

China has successfully deployed laser-based high-speed communication technology on commercial satellites, increasing space-to-ground data transfer speed tenfold to 10 gigabytes per second (Gbps).

“Using a ground-based 500mm (19.7 inches) aperture, researchers received laser signals emitted from a transmitter on the Jilin-1 MF02A04 satellite,” the official Science and Technology Daily reported earlier this week.

The 108-strong Jilin-1 constellation in lower Earth orbit is the world’s largest imaging satellite network, and sends back commercial remote sensing data for sectors including land resource survey, urban planning and disaster monitoring. The latest breakthrough is forecast to significantly enhance ground communication with the satellites.

Traditionally, satellite-to-ground links have primarily relied on microwave technology. However, as the range of microwave frequencies is restricted, so is the speed of data transfer.

Lasers, by contrast, have a much wider spectrum. Therefore, using lasers as data carriers can help pack more data into each transmission, with the bandwidth potentially reaching several hundred gigahertz.

A team from the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR), under the country’s premier research institute – the Chinese Academy of Sciences – set up a satellite-to-ground link using lasers, for what is formally known as “optical communication”.

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