China launches quantum satellite
BEIJING—China launched the world’s first quantum satellite on Tuesday in a bid to harness the power of particle physics to build an unbreakable system of encrypted communications, according to the official Xinhua news service.
The launch, which took place at 1:40 a.m. in the southwestern Gobi Desert, comes as the United States, Japan and others also seek to develop applications for the burgeoning technology.
Enormous resources
Beijing has poured enormous resources into the race, one of several cutting edge projects the world’s second-largest economy has pursued as part of its massive national investment in advanced scientific research on everything from asteroid mining to gene manipulation.
The satellite—nicknamed Micius after a fifth century B.C. Chinese scientist—will be used in experiments intended to prove the viability of quantum technology to communicate over long distances.
Use of photons
Unlike traditional secure communication methods, the system uses photons to send the encryption keys necessary to decode information.
The data contained in the bursts of subatomic particles is impossible to intercept: Any attempt at eavesdropping will self-destruct, Xinhua said.
While scientists have shown the trick can be used to transmit messages over relatively short distances, technical hurdles have kept long range communication out of reach.
The satellite will attempt to send secure messages between Beijing and the Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang in the country’s far west.
Success will require the satellite be precisely oriented to its earthbound receiving stations, Xinhua said.
Like tossing a coin
“It will be like tossing a coin from a plane at 100,000 meters above the sea level exactly into the slot of a rotating piggy bank,” it quoted the project’s chief commander, Wang Jianyu, as saying.
Developing the new technology is a major goal for Beijing, which included it in its most recent five-year plan.