At 11:09 am on November 6, a Long March 6 carrier rocket slowly lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi province. Later on, it was announced 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 report (via) states 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 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”, according to the university’s announcement on its WeChat channel.

“This marks China’s breakthrough in exploring terahertz communication technology in the aerospace,” Professor Xu Yangsheng, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and academic director of the university’s Satellite Technology Research Institute, said in a statement.

The official also disclosed in the statement that 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.

This project is yet another monumental effort by China to stay ahead of the pack in the race to 6G connectivity even when 5G is yet to be rolled out on a wider scale. China is a leader in 5G technology and the race for 5G is largely responsible for the heightened US/China trade dispute, including sanctions imposed on Huawei, the leading 5G gear manufacturer. If the US had aimed to slow down the pace of China’s technological advancement, it failed to achieve that aim. China, just like Japan and a few other countries is already working on 6G.

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