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technology7h ago
Chinese Satellite Obliterates Starlink With 2-Watt Laser From 36,000 KM Above Earth
- A 2-watt laser from geostationary orbit achieved 1 Gbps downlink to an Earth ground station.
- Adaptive optics and multi-channel mode processing raised usable signal from 72% to 91.1%.
- Geostationary links trade latency for continuous regional coverage compared with Starlink’s LEO constellation.
- Ground technology included a 1.8-meter telescope and 357 micro mirrors for wavefront correction.
- The experiment used a multi-plane converter and mode selection to pick the strongest signals.
- The study appeared in Acta Optica Sinica and involved institutions from Peking University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
- Atmospheric interference is the main challenge for space-based optical links at GEO distances.
- The experiment required multiple ground stations to maintain availability during cloud cover.
- Latency remains a drawback for GEO optical links compared with Starlink’s ~20–40 ms.
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