The Earth-Moon laser communication experiment, a key initiative under the Class A Strategic Pioneer Science and Technology Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has achieved a remarkable milestone. Following nearly a year of rigorous in-orbit testing, the payload and ground system—developed collaboratively by multiple institutions—have successfully established a bidirectional laser communication link spanning over 400,000 kilometers between Earth and the Moon. This accomplishment marks the first-ever in-orbit verification of high-speed laser communication between Earth and the Moon, heralding a significant expansion of China's space laser communication capabilities from low-Earth orbit to the Earth-Moon space.
Over the course of five years, the dedicated research team has surmounted three major technical hurdles: enhancing pointing accuracy, mitigating signal attenuation, and boosting transmission rates. Their efforts have culminated in the achievement of a 1.25 Mbps uplink communication rate and a remarkable 100 Mbps downlink rate. This technological leap forward is poised to revolutionize information transmission for China's upcoming manned lunar landing missions, lunar research station construction, and deep-space exploration endeavors, providing new and efficient means of communication.
