China’s Quantum Satellite | UPSC

MICIUS -WORLD’S FIRST QUANTUM

• NAMING : Named after the ancient Chinese philosopher also known as Mozi.

• MAJOR MILESTONE: Long-range secure communication you could trust even without trusting the satellite it runs through.
• LAUNCH : Launched in 2016, Micius has already produced a number of breakthroughs under its operating team led by Pan Jian-Wei, China’s “Father of Quantum”.

QUANTUM KEY DISTRIBUTION CONCEPT :

• If you manipulate one of the photons, the other will be similarly affected at the very same moment.
• It is this property that lies in the heart of the most secure forms of quantum cryptography, the entanglement-based quantum key distribution.

Quantum encryption relies on entangled particles of light.

• This mechanism prevents malicious attacks, such as blinding the telescopes with other light signals.

QUANTUM RACE

• THE FUTURE : Secure long-distance links such as this one will be the foundation of the quantum internet, the future global network with added security powered by laws of quantum mechanics, unmatched by classical cryptographic methods.
• The launch of Micius quantum race has political and military implications that are hard to ignore.

• Successful long distance quantum communications link is a sign that we are already living in a new era of communication security.
• This gives China the robust, unbreakable cryptographic protection without the need to trust the satellite.