Chinese scientists announced a successful experiment in the field of quantum encryption: they were able to send data to Earth from their satellite. This brought the country closer to creating an unbreakable network, which Beijing wants to build by 2030.
Quantum encryption will defeat cyber crime Chinese scientists were the first in the world to successfully transmit data using quantum encryption technology. The information packet was sent from the Mo-Tzu satellite to the Xinglong (Hebei) and Nanshan (Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region) observation stations,.
Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Pan Jianwei, in an interview with the Xinhua News Agency, said that the distance between the satellite and ground stations ranged from 645 to 1200 km at different points in the transmission of the data packet. The speed of the transmission itself, as the scientist noted, was "20 orders of magnitude greater" than using an imaginary optical fiber laid from space. The scientist also said that during the movement of the satellite over the territory of China for the experiment there is only one 10-minute window into which 300 kbit of encrypted information can be generated and transmitted to the Earth.
"Quantum encryption technology solves several security issues. For example, an absolutely safe telephone conversation that no one can listen to, or transfer of bank data that no one can intercept. When an attempt is made to break into a quantum communication channel, all data transmitted through it will simply be destroyed, "said Pan Jiangwei.
China is building an absolutely safe network. The research project "Mo-Tzu" is designed for two years. The satellite itself was launched on August 16, 2016. Its weight was 631 kg, the period of revolution around the Earth - 90 min. Initially, it was planned to transmit data to five stations in China and Austria. By the end of the year, two more ground facilities will be ready - in Germany and Italy.
According to scientists, quantum encryption by 2030. Will allow China to create an unbreakable network that ensures complete confidentiality and is resistant to any attacks. Reading the information from such data channels to third parties will prevent the fundamental law of quantum physics - the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which postulates irreversible changes to the quantum system under external interference.
One of the key figures of the experiment was the Austrian Anton Zeilinger (Anton Zeilinger). He was the first to put forward the idea of ??
quantum encryption in space, but the idea was rejected at the level of the European Space Agency. After this, the scientist joined the Chinese team.
Earlier, experiments with quantum encryption were carried out only on Earth: in Europe, the US and China. To transmit the keys, optical fiber was used, but as the signal progressed, the signal weakened. The location of the signal source in space solved this problem, since most of the way the photons pass in a vacuum.