China launched the World’s First Quantum Communications Satellite
World's First Quantum Satellite
- China launched the World’s First Quantum Communications Satellite. The 600 kg spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Center in the Gobi Desert. The satellite is named after the ancient Chinese scientist and philosopher Micius.
"Hack-Proof" Digital Communications
- The project tests a technology that could one day offer digital communication that is "hack-proof". The satellite will create pairs of so-called entangled photons - tiny sub-atomic particles of light whose properties are dependent on each other - beaming one half of each pair down to base stations in China and Austria.
Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS)
- China has allocated vast amounts of money for basic scientific research in its latest five-year development plan. It's also willing to take big risks on some as-yet unproven technologies. But while China is leading the project, officially titled Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS), Austria is also involved.
Quantum Teleportation Technology
- Quantum teleportation technology would be able to eliminate the 20-minute time delay in communication between earth and Mars and would allow tiny spacecraft to send back images and videos of planets many light years away without the need to carry a huge antenna. It could even give us a glimpse of what’s inside a black hole.