CHINA positioned itself at the forefront of quantum technology on Tuesday when it launched the world’s first quantum satellite from Inner Mongolia in an effort to develop “hack-proof communications” between itself and Europe. Hence, it is impossible to intercept, wiretap or crack the data sent transmitted through it.
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The world’s first quantum communication satellite, which China is preparing to launch, has been given the moniker “Micius”, after a fifth century B.C. Chinese scientist, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced Monday. Reportedly, a chance in one will affect another, despite possibly being billions of miles apart from each other.
Quantum physicist Nicolas Gisin, a professor from University of Geneva, says it is very likely that China will win the race to produce a quantum satellite.
China has launched the world’s first quantum communications satellite in a bid to create an impenetrable wall around its communications.
The 600-plus-kilogramme satellite was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwestern Gobi Desert at 1:40 AM, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
China’s therefore set up a pair of ground stations that will get keys from Micius and exchange information.
Many countries are working on quantum communications, including fiber-optic quantum key distribution networks in the United States, Europe, and China.
Named Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS), the satellite will be used to secure communications between Beijing and the high-crime capital of Xinhua province, Urumqi.
Quantum communication can also encrypt information by using quantum keys, which are formed with a series of random numbers.
Although groundbreaking, quantum communication as it stands is unlikely to aid cyber defence systems back on Earth, in the immediate future anyway.
In the meantime, the QUESS satellite will also beam entangled photons on two earth stations, which will be useful for scientists to study the basic phenomenon behind Quantum theory.
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Cybersecurity has been a major focus in recent years for China, which has pushed regulations aimed at limiting technology imported from the U.S.in the wake of Edward Snowden’s revelations of widespread surveillance by the US through the use of American hardware.
