China Launches World's First Quantum Communications Satellite

The world's first quantum satellite will help China establish "hack-proof" communications between space and the ground among other things.

"In its two-year mission, QUESS is designed to establish 'hack-proof' quantum communications by transmitting uncrackable keys from space to the ground," it said. "Quantum communication boasts ultra-high security as a quantum photon can neither be separated nor duplicated," it added. "It is hence impossible to wiretap, intercept or crack the information transmitted through it."

China insists its space programme is for peaceful purposes, but the U.S. Defense Department has highlighted its increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed to prevent adversaries from using space-based assets in a crisis.

Well congratulations China on a technology achievement. It would be prudent for DARPA and DOD to work together and build one of our own for government communications. Any chance the Chinese will share their ingenuity with its Western partners in exchange for a deescalation on their territorial claims in the South China sea?? I would be willing to make that compromise, and don't think it is an over the top concession to make. How many of our patents have they "borrowed" without permission?? maybe kick something back and we won't be so confrontational.

Live video from Chinese commercial satellite JL-1
‘Push the limits’: China to create world’s first quantum info teleport in 2016
RT

Love this thread. Amazing how far technology has come so quickly, and continues to grow. Very insiteful and interesting quick-read post.

a reply to: AmericanRealist

The thing about technology though, is once someone claims invincibility you have a LOT of entities and people trying to prove you wrong.

Nothing is hack-proof.

a reply to: Vector99

Communication through quantum-entaglement can´t be "hacked" ...thats the whole point of it.

Quantumly speaking, would not the transmitted information be secure and insecure at the same time?

Quantumly speaking, of course...

originally posted by: AmericanRealist
It would be prudent for DARPA and DOD to work together and build one of our own for government communications. Any chance the Chinese will share their ingenuity with its Western partners in exchange for a deescalation on their territorial claims in the South China sea??

It wouldn't surprise me to find that Western powers, US/NATO etc already have their own either in place or in the works. They may just be a bit more secretive about it, how they work and what they're used for. The US alone launches many 'Secret' defense satellites. Not much if anything is mentioned or released on their capabilities.

If one could conceive, build and deploy why couldn't another?

So they not only have demonstrated the ability to destroy satellites in high-earth orbit in the past, but now have (presently) unbreakable encrypted communications satellites?

Interesting. I think this one is a game changer.

originally posted by: AmericanRealist

The world's first quantum satellite will help China establish "hack-proof" communications between space and the ground among other things.

"In its two-year mission, QUESS is designed to establish 'hack-proof' quantum communications by transmitting uncrackable keys from space to the ground," it said. "Quantum communication boasts ultra-high security as a quantum photon can neither be separated nor duplicated," it added. "It is hence impossible to wiretap, intercept or crack the information transmitted through it."

China insists its space programme is for peaceful purposes, but the U.S. Defense Department has highlighted its increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed to prevent adversaries from using space-based assets in a crisis.

Well congratulations China on a technology achievement. It would be prudent for DARPA and DOD to work together and build one of our own for government communications. Any chance the Chinese will share their ingenuity with its Western partners in exchange for a deescalation on their territorial claims in the South China sea?? I would be willing to make that compromise, and don't think it is an over the top concession to make. How many of our patents have they "borrowed" without permission?? maybe kick something back and we won't be so confrontational.

Live video from Chinese commercial satellite JL-1
‘Push the limits’: China to create world’s first quantum info teleport in 2016
RT

No real chance for real info being shared IMO. China is especially secretive about most of their space program. Hope I'm wrong, that's some sweet tech!

originally posted by: Whatever08152
a reply to: Vector99

Communication through quantum-entaglement can´t be "hacked" ...thats the whole point of it.

But, really, isn't that a bit of a stretch in two ways, "quantum" and "hack proof" in a satellite?
What evidence do we have that anybody has quantum techniques in actual operation and to put such into a satellite none the less? That news reminds me more of a news flash from North Korea than anywhere.

ETA: However, about three years ago a fellow, supposedly in the business, came on ATS and claimed that the US had an operational quantum communication system on Mars. He even had a website for a couple of weeks before he and it disappeared. Such systems undoubtedly would be an aspect of our super secret (almost) triangles as they ply the way around the solar system. So China is merely playing catchup.

Yup, its probably tech they stole or maybe their tech that other countries have already stolen. All this stealing of course would have been done by hacking. And then finally ... no tech is purely defense in nature, its real purpose is probably to enable offensive hacking.

We've had that for a few years...

...as seen HERE!

Or HERE!

a reply to: AmericanRealist

It says "Worlds First Quantum Communications Satellite" but one has to wonder what the X-37B has been launching into orbit its past few journeys?

Just a thought.

a reply to: SLAYER69

Well, if they do have access to these, it does not appear it is being utilized. Even the DOD has lost a lot of classified material. That was a result of leaks though, and I don't know if hacking was in any way involved, or if it was as simple as they had access and just copy paste everything.

a reply to: ArchAngel_X
Certainly interesting. I have been supportive of making sure we have an edge in space, and believe we should continue to increase the NASA budget so they can work together with private industry and the Air Force/NAVY to get us a base of operation on the moon. But we have to develop equipment to harvest and utilize the Helium 3 that exists their in abundance to get that far. I don't want the USA and our European partners to be left behind in the modern space industry. As it seems now, Asian countries are taking the lead while we fight over Middle Eastern energy interests. We should be focusing on the energy on the moon, as it is much more lucrative to the first party that can develop that industry.

a reply to: Bedlam
In those examples they were claiming an alternative quantum internet. Which I suppose applies to satellites because the internet is just servers and sats. However, based on the level of hacking facing our government the last few years, it does not seem this technology has been utilized within the states. We can theorize about secret programs and what the technology may actually be deployed for, but there is no confirmation we have these sats in orbit. China just told the world though.

That research was also done at MIT . Is it possible China recruited some of the team that was working on it then?? They only announced their goal in January, and in less than a year they put a satellite with this tech in orbit.

a reply to: AmericanRealist

And there goes the neighborhood....Im thinking suspiciously that it all has a secondary goal.

To place the ability of earth directed EMP's to start war in the near future....

well, the problem with quantum entangled computers are that there can only be communication between 2 devices at a time. not between 3 or 4 or more. and the computers themselves can only be hacked if they are networked with other computers in the "normal" way. cool though, as the communication would be instantaneous, no matter the distance between them. unless the laws of physics are different or changed from what i previously have learned.

A Quantum receiver would be quite delicate and prone to decoherence with even the slightest distracting signal.
Maybe they had to teach it to meditate?

originally posted by: Bedlam
We've had that for a few years...

...as seen HERE!

Or HERE!

I just found out about this and while I want to believe the US has its own quantum entanglement com sat, do you have anything more substantial to link me towards than your own posts?

originally posted by: Peeple

originally posted by: Bedlam
We've had that for a few years...

...as seen HERE!

Or HERE!

I just found out about this and while I want to believe the US has its own quantum entanglement com sat, do you have anything more substantial to link me towards than your own posts?

Amazing how my posts describe the supposedly new approach in the article, and yet are years old.

There's probably something you could find leading up to it, but the actual satellite functionality is still classified.

eta: You might check out Dr Kuzmich at Georgia Tech, he was late to the party but they contract him for this sort of thing...

a reply to: Bedlam

Okay, just so you know, I read "don't worry we got that for years".
What I find a bit unsettling tough is, China makes it public, while NASA dances around data transmission via laser.
Wouldn't this maybe be a good point to declassify? Or is it some strategic game I don't get?

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: Bedlam

Okay, just so you know, I read "don't worry we got that for years".
What I find a bit unsettling tough is, China makes it public, while NASA dances around data transmission via laser.
Wouldn't this maybe be a good point to declassify? Or is it some strategic game I don't get?

I think it's more an emergent behavior caused by the way things are done.

1) we never declass anything we don't have to. Changes some years back cause auto-declassing of petty crap, as it should be, keeping stupid things classified (like screwdrivers) costs everyone money and causes contempt for classified things that maybe should be classified

2) there is a class of things that, once classified, bring down the wrath of God himself if spoken about. This is one of those things. It's way worse than revealing horrifying details of generic training and field protocols, and even THOSE cause mass book burnings. But sat comm revelations can inflict a jury-free death penalty trial. So you get very few of those leaks.

3) it's real compartmentalized, and the people on that project group mean it, sort of like NRO.

That said, the countering force is the cool factor of technologies, and the cooler they are, the more likely they are to leak about the community. No one gives a crap about the very nice and highly classified nature of certain circulators designed by a radar manufacturer I won't mention. Circulators don't have sex appeal.

No-interception quantum radio links in satellites, though, THAT has sex appeal to engineers, and thus most of the Huntsville community that was working at Redstone with clearances knew that a group of people in the area were working towards designing that back as early as 2003. Part of the fun is a sort of train-spotting thing where you look at the RFQs being let and see if you can determine which project THAT'S for, and sure enough, if you look in that time frame with a close enough eye, and just before it in open lit from universities, you will see a bunch of related topics and contracts. That you don't see again later for about a decade. It's not that they lost interest.