A Chinese satellite reshuffles the deck against Starlink. Expanded range and increased speeds: the equation intrigues engineers. What discreet mechanism gives it this head start, and what does it change for the market?
A Chinese technological leap that challenges Starlink
A new Chinese satellite has recently validated optical links with laser transmission speeds announced to be five times higher than those achieved by the Starlink constellation of SpaceX. This record speed is based on a radically different architecture: instead of a mesh of low-orbit satellites, the Chinese team relies on a single relay placed much higher. The result disrupts standards and reshuffles the cards of orbital connectivity, particularly for long-distance links and high-capacity applications.
Unprecedented mastery of laser communication
The core of the advancement lies in the laser transmission between orbit and ground. Where Starlink primarily uses radio links for ground access and inter-satellite laser links in low orbit (~550 km), the Chinese system operates from a geostationary orbit at 36,000 km. Such a distance increases path loss, beam divergence, and pointing requirements. Engineers have compensated for these constraints with a combination of powerful transmitters, large aperture optics, and ultra-stable pointing control, allowing for a narrow beam and high signal-to-noise ratio reception despite the distance.
The challenges of atmospheric turbulence
The main barrier to ground-space optical links remains atmospheric turbulence, which causes scintillation, distorted wavefronts, and intensity fluctuations. The Chinese team adopted a hybrid approach combining adaptive optics (AO) and mode diversity reception (MDR). AO measures and corrects wavefront aberrations in real-time via a deformable mirror, while MDR multiplies spatial or modal paths to mitigate fading dips: if one mode degrades, another remains usable. This AO+MDR coupling stabilizes the received intensity and maintains an exploitable phase, paving the way for sustained speeds even under changing atmospheric conditions.
An algorithm to ensure optimal transmission
Beyond hardware, a path selection algorithm has been developed and validated on the infrastructures of the Lijiang Observatory in China. It continuously prioritizes available optical paths and reallocates the flow to the one offering the best metric (SNR, BER, scintillation), while controlling MEMS-type micro-mirrors to finely redirect the beam. This orchestration reduces interference, limits packet loss, and maintains a robust link during turbulence variations, dynamic pointing, and changes in local weather conditions.
Applications with strategic stakes
The benefits cover high-value domains: long-range secure links, interconnections of critical networks, high-speed backhaul for internet access and real-time services (videoconferencing, heavy content streaming), as well as the resilience of digital infrastructures in case of congestion or crisis. In parallel, the claimed superiority in speed imposes direct competitive pressure on Starlink, which will need to accelerate the evolution of its optical links and network architecture to maintain its position in the race for new-generation constellations and orbital relays.