China has carried out a satellite-based high-speed laser image transmission test using a proprietary satellite, the Jilin-1 MF02A04 star-borne laser terminal, making the country's first successful test of its kind. 

The laser communication ground station has been independently developed by the satellite manufacturer and constellation operator, Changguang Satellite Technology, in northeast China's Jilin Province.

The successful test indicates that the company has successfully achieved the engineering capabilities for the entire business chain covering satellite-to-ground laser high-speed image transmission, highlighting that its engineering application capacity has reached an advanced level in the world.

With the continuous improvement of the spatiotemporal resolution of constellations, the amount of data generated is increasing geometrically. The bandwidth of satellite-to-ground data transmission links has become a core issue that restricts the transmission of massive satellite data.

"Laser communication has become one of the best solutions for ultra high speed transmission of massive data due to its high bandwidth, low latency, and good security," said Wang Xingxing, technical director of Changguang Satellite Laser Communication Ground Station.

Self-developed system with major breakthroughs

Starting from March 2020, the research team of Changguang Satellite Technology began comprehensive research and development work to perform the test.

With more than three years of efforts, the current laser communication ground station not only achieved high bandwidth and miniaturization but can also be easily relocated and deployed, improving the reliability and stability of satellite-ground laser data transmission.

Flexible changes in ground station sites provide effective support for avoiding extreme weather and atmospheric turbulence. This feature will greatly improve the reliability and stability of satellite-to-ground laser data transmission.

Adopting a vehicle-mounted configuration, the independently developed laser communication ground station also possesses high bandwidth and compact features while being highly mobile.

The flexible adjustment of the ground station's location provides effective support for avoiding extreme weather conditions and atmospheric disturbances, greatly enhancing the reliability and stability of satellite-ground laser data transmission.

The company's core product, the Jilin-1 satellite family, is China's first domestic remote-sensing satellite constellation built for commercial purposes. It captures super high-definition images and helps with forest fire warnings, desertification, offshore rescue, ocean protection and other remote-sensing information services.

In June, the company conducted a successful space-to-ground high-speed laser communications experiment using the Jilin-1 MF02A04 satellite and laser ground system deployed by the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

This latest success shows that China has successfully applied space-to-ground high-speed laser communications technology, laying a solid foundation for the expansion from microwave to laser, according to the company.

The communication bandwidth of this satellite ground laser image transmission experiment reached 10 Gbps (1 Gbps is 1 gigabit per second), which is over 10 times the bandwidth of traditional microwave data transmission, said Wang Xingxing.

"In the future, Changguang Satellite Technology plans to expand this bandwidth to 40-100 Gbps and deploy stations in multiple locations throughout the country, which will significantly enhance the efficiency of acquiring remote sensing image data from the Jilin-1 constellation."