China’s BeiDou in race with Nasa over laser communications in space

Researchers conduct experiment using Chinese satellites to create laser network in space for high-speed links. Technology could potentially transmit data a million times faster than by radio signal to almost any location. — SCMP

China has conducted a pioneering high-speed communication experiment using lasers, rather than the usual radio signals, between satellites in its BeiDou navigation system and ground stations on Earth.

The method could allow a satellite to beam data to the ground at several gigabytes per second, rather than kilobytes at present, according to researchers involved. BeiDou’s fastest communication performance in the experiment remains classified.