China Has Successfully Launched What Has Been Described As “The World’s First 6G Satellite” Into Space To Test The Technology
It went into orbit along with 12 other satellites from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the Shanxi Province. The telecoms industry is still several years away from agreeing on 6G’s specifications, so it is not yet certain the tech being trialled will make it into the final standard.
It involves use of high-frequency terahertz waves to achieve data-transmission speeds many times faster than 5G is likely to be capable of. The Test Satellite also carries technology which will be used for crop disaster monitoring and forest fire prevention.
5G hasn’t even been implemented properly yet, but China is already looking ahead to more advanced technology. The Asian country successfully launched on November 6 what has been described as “the world’s first 6G satellite” into orbit.
The aim of the launch is to test the technology. The cutting-edge satellite was sent into space with 12 other satellites from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the Shanxi Province.
The satellite is named after the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and will serve to test out the performance of the 6G frequency band in space. 6G is expected to be over 100 times faster than 5G which is already expected to be ultra-fast.
This is because it uses high-frequency terahertz waves to achieve impressive data-transmission speeds. In addition, the novel satellite also features technology that will be used for crop disaster monitoring and forest fire prevention.
Dangerous for humans?
For now, there is no guarantee that the tech being trialed will make it into the final standard. There are already fears that 5G may be dangerous for humans so it is safe to assume those fears will be compounded with 6G technology.
More than 215 scientists from 40 different countries have appealed to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), asking the body to consider health risks and environmental issues before deploying a 5G infrastructure. And we can venture a safe guess that the same amount of experts, if not more, will have similar concerns about 6G.
This news was originally published at BBC