After making waves in the tech world with its innovative DeepSeek AI model launch, China has now achieved another remarkable milestone. The country has successfully tested a satellite internet speed that is 10 times faster than Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite. According to reports, China has become the first to achieve high-resolution space-to-ground laser transmission at speeds exceeding 100 Gbps.

Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co, a commercial satellite company in China, became the first to achieve a high-resolution space-to-ground laser transmission at astonishing speeds of over 100 Gbps, 10 times faster than Starlink satellite internet, which SpaceX CEO Elon Musk owns.

China Surpasses Musk in the 6G Race

The Chinese satellite company announced that it transmitted data at a record-breaking 100 gigabits per second (Gbps), ten times faster than its previous best. The data was transmitted from one of its Jilin-1 constellation satellites to a truck-mounted ground station, as the South China Morning Post reported.

Cost-Effective Satellite Internet from China

While Elon Musk’s Starlink network relies on more than 5,500 satellites, with plans to launch up to 42,000 shortly, China has achieved impressive results with just 80 satellites. These satellites orbit approximately 535 kilometers from Earth, slightly lower than Starlink’s 550-kilometer orbit, yet they have proven highly effective at a fraction of the cost.

100 Gbps in One Second

Wang, a representative of the company, explained that the data transmission at 100Gbps is equivalent to downloading 10 full-length high-definition (HD) movies in just one second. To put this speed into perspective, this is like transforming a single-lane highway into one with thousands of lanes, demonstrating a leap in internet performance.

What is 6G technology?

6G represents the sixth generation of wireless communication technology, set to far exceed the capabilities of current 5G networks in terms of speed, connectivity and global reach.

Unlike 5G, 6G is expected to be a far more integrated network, utilizing terrestrial, aerial, and satellite systems to provide worldwide coverage. This next-generation technology will deliver data speeds over 1 Tbps, with latency as low as 100 microseconds. It will likely operate on higher frequency bands than 5G, including the terahertz (THz) spectrum.