China in a breakthrough, launches world’s first 6G test satellite into orbit

From a tweet that was posted by The China Embassy in the US it was known that China that is showing tremendous progress in 5G has launched what it claims as the first 6G experimental satellite to test communications from space using high-frequency terahertz spectrum.

The supposed 6G satellite was one of 13 aboard the Long March-6 rocket, which launched on 6 November at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi province.

The 6G specific satellite

News reports from China say that the 70kg-6G test satellite aims to verify the performance of data transmission using terahertz spectrum and will test a number of smart cities, environmental protection, and disaster prevention applications, such as crop and forest fire monitoring.

On November 6th, a Long March 6 carrier rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi province. It was announced later on the official WeChat platform of China’s University of Electronic Science and Technology that the world’s first 6G experimental satellite named after the university, was successfully lifted off the Long March 6 and entered the scheduled orbit that same day.

The reports from Chinese news agencies indicate that the satellite is equipped with a terahertz satellite communication payload jointly developed by the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and a number of other top domestic laboratories.

“It will establish a transceiver link on the satellite platform and carry out the world’s first experiment of terahertz communication technology in space,” reads the announcement made by the university on its WeChat channel.

In a statement, Professor Xu Yangsheng, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Academic Director of the university’s Satellite Technology Research Institute, said, “The satellite will also be used for intelligent city applications, disaster prevention, land planning, environment protection, and the monitoring of major infrastructure construction in addition to 6G experiments.”

Global operators set ground for 6G

The sixth-generation mobile access technology has started to gain momentum as major industry players are gearing up for its launch as early as 2030.

It is believed that Samsung expects the ITU-R to begin work on 6G in 2021, with the standard to be completed as early as 2028, opening the door to the earliest deployments in ten years.

In mid-October US operators Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile US, and US Cellular joined other operators under the guise of the Next G Alliance, aiming to steer the development of 6G and establish North America as a global leader in the technology.

NTT Docomo in Japan has also started early moves to develop 6G technology in January with a goal of a commercial launch by 2030, and in May China Unicom and ZTE have signed a strategic agreement to develop 6G technologies.

(Pic courtesy: Pixabay)