China Launches World's First Quantum Satellite For Hack-Proof Program

function onPlayerReadyVidible(e){'undefined'!=typeof HPTrack&&HPTrack.Vid.Vidible_track(e)}!function(e,i){if(e.vdb_Player){if('object'==typeof commercial_video){var a='',o='m.fwsitesection='+commercial_video.site_and_category;if(a+=o,commercial_video['package']){var c='&m.fwkeyvalues=sponsorship%3D'+commercial_video['package'];a+=c}e.setAttribute('vdb_params',a)}i(e.vdb_Player)}else{var t=arguments.callee;setTimeout(function(){t(e,i)},0)}}(document.getElementById('vidible_1'),onPlayerReadyVidible); BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Tuesday launched the worlds first quantum satellite, which will help it establish hack-proof communications between space and the ground, state media said, the latest advance in an ambitious space program.The program is a priority as President Xi Jinping has urged China to establish itself as a space power, and apart from its civilian ambitions, it has tested anti-satellite missiles.The Quantum Experiments at Space Scale, or QUESS, satellite, was launched from the JiuquanSatellite Launch Centre in the remote northwestern province of Gansu in the early hours of Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency said.In its two-year mission, QUESS is designed to establish hack-proof quantum communicationsby 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.The satellite will enable secure communications between Beijing and Urumqi, Xinhua said, referring to the capital of Chinas violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang, where the government says it is battling an Islamist insurgency.The newly-launched satellite marks a transition in Chinas role - from a follower in classic information technology development to one of the leaders guiding future achievements, Pan Jianwei, the projects chief scientist, told the agency.Quantum communications holds enormous prospects in the field of defense, it added.China insists its space program 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. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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