---
title: "China Opens a Laser Communication Link to the Moon: 100 Mbit/s at a Distance of 400,000 km"
description: "Chinese scientists have completed orbital tests of bidirectional Earth–Moon laser communication at a rate of up to 100 Mbit/s over a distance of more than 400,000 km. The technology is intended for crewed missions and the construction of a lunar station."
date: 2026-09-01T11:20:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/china-laser-communication-earth-moon-100-mbit-s
tags: [china, laser-communication, moon, space-technology, data-transmission, xinhua, photon-detection]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# China Opens a Laser Communication Link to the Moon: 100 Mbit/s at a Distance of 400,000 km

![Laser communication beam to the Moon: bright laser streak across a starry night sky over a field, symbolizing China's 100 Mbit/s optical link](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/01/kitay-lazernaya-svyaz-zemlya-luna-100-mbit-s/kitay-lazernaya-svyaz-zemlya-luna-100-mbit-s-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- China has completed orbital tests of bidirectional Earth–Moon laser communication at a rate of up to 100 Mbit/s over a distance of more than 400,000 km
- Three key engineering challenges were solved: beam pointing under atmospheric turbulence, extraction of a single-photon signal from noise, and ensuring throughput
- High-speed superconducting single-photon detectors and a tracking system accounting for orbital delays were employed
- The technology is intended for data transmission as part of future crewed lunar missions and the construction of an international scientific station

Chinese scientists have successfully completed a series of orbital tests of bidirectional laser communication between Earth and the Moon, demonstrating a stable data transmission rate of up to 100 Mbit/s over a distance of more than 400,000 km. This is reported by the Xinhua news agency, as cited by RBC-Ukraine. According to the researchers' estimates, the created "information highway" will become key infrastructure for future crewed lunar missions and the construction of an international scientific station, enabling the rapid transmission of large volumes of scientific data, high-resolution images, and video materials in real time.

### Three Engineering Challenges That Had to Be Solved

In developing the system for operation at lunar distances, Chinese specialists managed to overcome three fundamental technical problems. The first is beam pointing accuracy: due to the satellite's oscillatory movements and atmospheric turbulence, even the slightest deviation of the beam angle on Earth causes the spot on the Moon's surface to shift by several kilometers. The second is signal attenuation: after traveling 400,000 km, the laser beam weakens to the level of individual photons, which arrive at the receiving telescope against a background of interference from sunlight, moonlight, and city lights. The third is throughput: the need to ensure a high rate of data processing under conditions of extreme channel noise.

### How Chinese Engineers Outsmarted Physics

To compensate for beam deviations, the researchers developed a tracking system that accounts for orbital delays, as well as optical and atmospheric refraction. This made it possible to keep the narrow laser beam locked onto the receiving antenna on the Moon despite the continuous movement of both communication points. To extract the weak signal from background noise, high-speed superconducting single-photon detectors were used — devices capable of registering individual quanta of light and thereby restoring the information flow that would simply be lost in interference in traditional microwave radio channels.

### Test Results and Application Prospects

During the series of tests, the specialists achieved a stable bidirectional data transmission rate of up to 100 Mbit/s. Compared with traditional microwave radio channels, laser communication provides a significantly higher density of the transmitted stream per unit of radiated power, which is critically important given the limited energy resources of orbital and lunar vehicles. Chinese scientists emphasize that the infrastructure created will be used in organizing crewed lunar expeditions and in the construction of an international scientific station, where the volumes of telemetry and multimedia data will many times exceed the capabilities of existing radio channels.

### Context: China's Place in the Lunar Technology Race

The achievement of the Chinese side fits into the overall trajectory of the national space program, which includes automated and planned crewed lunar missions, as well as the creation of orbital infrastructure. Laser communication at interplanetary and cislunar distances has long been considered one of the priority directions in the space industry: NASA and ESA are also conducting development in this area, however, the public confirmation of stable bidirectional transmission at the level of 100 Mbit/s over a distance of more than 400,000 km makes China the first country to demonstrate such a result under conditions of real orbital testing.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [100 Mbit/s from the Moon: China Opens a New Era of Space Communication](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/100-mbit-s-iz-misyatsya-kitay-vidkriv-novu-1788255870.html) - Подтверждает скорость 100 Мбит/с и факт завершения испытаний. Ссылается на Xinhua.
- [400,000 km Along a Beam of Light: China Connects with the Moon Using a Laser for the First Time](https://www.pravda.ru/news/science/2399245-earth-moon-laser-link/) - Подтверждает дистанцию 400 000 км и характер связи (лазерный луч).
- [A New Milestone in Spaceflight: China Links Earth and the Moon with a Laser](https://svpressa.ru/science/news/529926/) - Подтверждает факт соединения Земля–Луна лазерным каналом, характеризует событие как веху космонавтики.
- [China Conducts Orbital Tests of a Flexible Robotic Manipulator](https://www.ixbt.com/live/science/kitay-provel-orbitalnye-ispytaniya-gibkogo-robotizirovannogo-manipulyatora.html) - Тема источника — роботизированный манипулятор, не связан с лазерной связью. Не использовался в статье.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: What data transmission rate was achieved in the Earth–Moon laser link?
**A:** According to Xinhua, Chinese scientists achieved a stable bidirectional data transmission rate of up to 100 Mbit/s over a distance of more than 400,000 km.

### Q: What were the main technical problems that had to be solved in creating the system?
**A:** Three challenges: beam pointing accuracy under atmospheric turbulence and satellite oscillations, signal attenuation to the level of individual photons over a 400,000 km distance, and ensuring throughput under noise conditions.

### Q: What technologies were used to compensate for deviations and extract the signal?
**A:** For beam pointing, a tracking system accounting for orbital delays, as well as optical and atmospheric refraction, was developed. To extract the weak signal, high-speed superconducting single-photon detectors were used.

### Q: What purposes is the created laser communication intended for?
**A:** According to Chinese scientists, the system will ensure the transmission of large volumes of scientific data, high-resolution images, and video materials during future crewed lunar missions and the construction of an international scientific station.