While the world is still rolling out 5G and the controversies, China has already launched what it says is the first 6G satellite into space.
It’s expected to be used to test out a new spectrum that will aim to deliver 6G speeds – which must be pretty bloody fast.
It was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi Province on Friday (6 November).
The experimental 6G satellite was carried in a Long-March 6 rocket along with 12 other satellites.
The government in China announced it had started to research 6G just days after 5G was launched in the country.
It’s a way off yet though – China is hoping to roll out the first wave of 6G technology in 2030. Scientists say that it will be able to eventually generate speeds of up to 100 times faster than 5G.
The satellite was carrying several experimental devices with the aim of testing out the high frequency waves that the network will use – terahertz waves.
The waves are able to carry data at about 50 gigabits per second. That’s in comparison with current top speeds of 500 megabytes per second.
Speaking to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, Xu Yangsheng, an engineer at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said: “6G is to combine the satellite communication network with the ground communication network.
“This experimental satellite marks the first time the technology of terahertz communication would be verified when applied in space.”
And while China explores the possibilities of 6G internet, here in the UK 5G speeds are being rolled out by different services.
At the end of last month, O2’s 5G network was made available to customers in more than 100 towns and cities across the UK.
A year on from its launch, the high speed network is accessible in a total of 108 UK towns and cities, with new locations including the likes of Milton Keynes, Ipswich and Chelmsford.
