As a result of reconfiguring the satellite's onboard software while in orbit, researchers working on the Pamir Plateau managed to double the throughput of existing laser communication systems, setting a new national record for data transmission speed.

The Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully conducted a practical experiment in which the laser communication speed between the satellite and Earth exceeded 100 gigabits per second (Gbps). The maximum achieved data transmission rate reached 120 Gbps, marking a significant step forward in the development of high-speed space-to-Earth data transfer.

Technological Breakthrough

This achievement was the result of a series of rapid technological advances by the AIR team. Previously, they recorded speeds of 10 Gbps in 2023 and 60 Gbps in 2025. In the latest experiment, a proprietary ground-based laser station with a 500-millimeter aperture, located on the Pamir Plateau in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, was used to establish a direct link with the AIRSAT-02 satellite.

Software Modernization Without Hardware Changes

The engineering team accomplished this result without making any physical modifications to the AIRSAT-02 satellite's hardware. The throughput was increased from 60 to 120 Gbps solely by reconfiguring the onboard software, which allowed the full potential of the existing laser communication equipment to be realized.

Proven Effectiveness

Test results confirmed the stability and efficiency of the new system. Li Yalin, senior engineer at AIR and technical leader of the team, noted that achieving such a result was accompanied by an exponential increase in complexity. He compared the previous 10 Gbps rate to a simple single-lane road, while reaching 120 Gbps was like building a complex multi-lane highway that requires both rapid construction and efficient parallel traffic management.