Chinese firm's satellite-to-ground laser communications outpace Starlink

A Chinese firm has surpassed Starlink by deploying satellite-to-ground laser communications, opening the door to 6G innovation, ultra-high-resolution remote sensing, and advanced satellite positioning technology, local media reported on Thursday.

Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., the country’s first remote-sensing satellite maker and operator of the Jilin-1 constellation of satellites, achieved a 100 Gbps high-speed data transmission in tests last week, the daily South China Morning Post reported.

The achievement is 10 times faster than the previous record and involved data transmission between a truck-mounted ground station and one of the 117 satellites in the Jilin-1 constellation, according to the company.

Wang Hanghang, the company's chief of laser communication ground station, said the progress has placed Chang Guang Satellite ahead of Starlink, the space company owned by billionaire Elon Musk.

“We think they might have the technology, but we’ve already started large-scale deployment,” said Wang.

The company aims to equip all satellites in the Jilin-1 constellation with laser communication units to enhance efficiency, targeting a network of 300 satellites by 2027, he added.

“We plan to deploy these laser communication units across all satellites in the Jilin-1 constellation to improve their efficiency, with a goal of networking 300 satellites by 2027,” he also said.

The next generation of wireless technology, 6G is designed to be much faster than 5G, with speeds over a terabit per second and extremely low latency of just 100 microseconds.

It aims to provide global coverage by combining networks on land, in the air, and in space, using higher frequency waves, such as those in the terahertz range.