Jilin-1 (space satellites)

2023: Product Announcement

In mid-October 2023, the Chinese company Chang Guang Satellite Technology (CGST) introduced a high-speed space-to-earth laser communication system. The platform provides the ability to transfer data between the satellite and ground equipment at speeds up to 10 Gbps.

CGST operates the world's largest constellation of Earth remote sensing satellites, Jilin-1. As of October 2023, this platform combines more than 100 comic devices, and the ultimate goal is to launch approximately 300 satellites into orbit.

CGST unveils high-speed space-to-earth laser communication system

During testing of the communication system, CGST sent images of the surface of our planet from one of the Jilin-1 devices to a ground receiving station mounted on a vehicle. The capacity of the laser line reached 10 Gbps: this is claimed to be more than 10 times the data rate in traditional radio frequency channels used for satellite communications.

CGST notes that the ground mobile station is compact, has high performance and can be quickly deployed anywhere, which allows you to quickly solve possible problems of signal degradation due to cloud, atmospheric turbulence or extreme weather conditions. However, the company did not provide any details about the configuration of the ground station, in particular, about the aperture and accuracy of guidance, as well as about which vehicle the equipment was mounted on.

In the future, CGST plans to increase system throughput to 40-100 Gbps. Laser installations will be used in various regions across China, which will "significantly improve the efficiency of imaging" from spacecraft.^[1]

Notes