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China's 2026 lunar laser comms speed lags behind 2013 NASA tech

By PulseAugur Editorial · [1 sources] ·

China's planned lunar laser communication system, set for deployment in 2026, will achieve speeds significantly slower than a NASA experiment conducted in 2013. The Chinese Academy of Sciences reported downlink speeds of 100 Mbps and uplink speeds of 1.25 Mbps for their system, which utilizes telescopes in Yunnan and an experimental satellite. In comparison, NASA's 2013 demonstration reached download speeds of 622 Mbps and upload speeds of 20 Mbps, making it substantially faster. Space historian Jonathan McDowell noted that while the experiments are comparable, China has not yet matched the US's data rates. AI

RANK_REASON The item reports on a specific technological development and benchmark comparison in space communication, akin to a research finding. [lever_c_demoted from research: ic=1 ai=0.1]

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China's 2026 lunar laser comms speed lags behind 2013 NASA tech

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The item reports on a specific technological development and benchmark comparison in space communication, akin to a research finding. [lever_c_demoted from research: ic=1 ai=0.1]
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COVERAGE [1]

  1. SCMP — Tech TIER_1 English(EN) · Ling Xin ·

    China’s 2026 moon laser communication speed is slower than Nasa’s in 2013

    China has pulled off two-way laser communication between Earth and the moon, making it only the second nation after the United States to do so. But the data rates it achieved were well behind those recorded by Nasa more than a decade ago, and that has left space experts scratchin…

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