China is ready to launch the world's first quantum communications satellite this July, which is said to be the most secure way of communication.

Pan Jianwei, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chief scientist of the quantum satellite project, shows how to make quantum encoded calls on May 25, 2106. [Photo: Xinhua]

The mission will be launched on the Long March 2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.

Work began on the satellite in 2011 and assembly was completed early this year.

Scientists are conducting tests before the launch.

Zhu Zhencai, chief designer of the quantum satellite explained: "the most distinctive feature (of this satellite) is that it has to be aligned with two optical ground stations in a considerably wide range of plus-minus 90 degrees to 75 degrees. The other feature is that the optical axes of the satellite and the ground telescope have to be aligned strictly, almost like needle-to-head, or 3.5 micro-radians."

Pan Jianwei, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and chief scientist of the quantum satellite, listed the three main missions of this satellite, which are quantum encoded communications, quantum entanglement and quantum teleportation.

Among them, quantum encoded communications, hightlight of this cutting-edge technology, can be absolutely secure, which is determined by its nature: quantum information can be neither sensed (uncertainty principle) nor copied (the no-cloning theorem).

Even the most powerful computer cannot crack the quantum information, said Pan.

China is planning to launch more quantum satellites in the future, aiming for the first international macro-zonal quantum encoded information network by 2030.

"The three missions (of the quantum satellite) are first-time attempts for China, the world, and the entire human race. Therefore, it draws global expectation," said Pan.

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