Chinese scientists have made a groundbreaking achievement in space transmission technology, transmitting data from space to Earth at an unprecedented speed and power efficiency. Led by professors Wu Jian and Liu Chao, they successfully transmitted 1 gigabit per second of data using only 2 watts of laser power, surpassing Elon Musk’s Starlink network by five times.
The breakthrough overcomes a significant challenge in ground-space transmissions: atmospheric turbulence, which scatters light and degrades signals. This achievement has enabled ultra-fast connections from Earth to geostationary stations located at an incredible 36,705 kilometers high – 60 times farther away than the placement of Starlink satellites.
The test was conducted using a 1.8-meter telescope at the Lijiang Observatory in southwest China. The instrument utilized 357 micromirrors to reshape distorted laser light, effectively preventing signal degradation caused by low power levels. This innovation has the potential to revolutionize space communication and pave the way for even faster data transmission.
The record-breaking transmission accomplished this feat in under five seconds, sending a film from Shanghai to Los Angeles in less than that time. This achievement is expected to have significant implications for various industries, including telecommunications and space exploration.
Source: https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/world-news/2025/06/19/6854594246163f48098b458a.html