China announced Tuesday that it has successfully conducted the world's first two-way high-speed laser communication test, using a laser communication terminal installed on high-throughput satellite Shijian-13 orbiting 40,000 kilometers above Earth, marking the satellite's official use.
The successful test shows that the country is at the forefront when it comes to high-speed space information transmission, according to an article posted on the official WeChat public account of the equipment development branch of China's People's Liberation Army Daily.
Pang Zhihao, a Beijing-based space communication expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the satellite, transmitting information on the KA band, can carry more data and has great anti-jamming capabilities compared to traditional ground-based technologies that use lower frequency C and KU bands, enabling better internet access for passengers of planes and high-speed trains.
The laser communication can also facilitate communication in space, laying a great foundation for the country's future space probe projects, Pang added.
The website of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense said Tuesday that the communication satellite officially started operating following the test, and will strongly support China's space power-building and Broadband China projects.
The satellite will provide services mainly for customers in China, covering a range of fields including the Chinese companies' private networks and remote education, the administration said.
The test was conducted by a Chinese laser communication research team led by Ma Jing and Tan Liying, both professors at the Harbin Institute of Technology, and has overcome many problems including satellite motion and platform vibrations in stabilizing the linking track from the satellite to the recipient station on the ground.
It achieved an average reception margin of 2.5 seconds and a 100 percent stable link lasted an hour, with a maximum transmission speed of five gigabytes per second and great accuracy, the WeChat article said.
China Satellite Communication Company has successfully set up 15 education projects for schools in remote areas, including Northwest China's Gansu Province, connecting these schools with fast broadband internet service, the website said.
