China Launches Quantum Communications Satellite

China on Tuesday launched the world's first quantum satellite, which will help it establish "hack-proof" communications, representing the latest advance in an ambitious space program, Xinhua, Beijing’s official news service announced.

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The program has been a priority since President Xi Jinping assumed the chair of China's Communist Party in 2012. Tuesday's launch comes amid rising tensions between former Cold War rivals in the East and West.

The Quantum Experiments at Space Scale, or QUESS, satellite, was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the remote northwestern province of Gansu in the early hours of Tuesday, according to Xinhua.

"In its two-year mission, QUESS is designed to establish 'hack-proof' quantum communications by transmitting uncrackable keys from space to the ground," it said.

"Quantum communication boasts ultra-high security as a quantum photon can neither be separated nor duplicated," it added. "It is hence impossible to wiretap, intercept or crack the information transmitted through it."

It will also advance scientific inquiries of some of the more unusual properties of sub-atomic particles, including "quantum entanglement", Xinhua said. The term describes what Albert Einstein described as the "spooky" phenomenon of particles exerting influence on each other at a distance, including the ability for paired particles to mirror each other at faster-than-light speeds.

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The satellite will enable secure communications between Beijing and Urumqi, Xinhua said, referring to the capital of China's violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang.

"The newly-launched satellite marks a transition in China's role - from a follower in classic information technology development to one of the leaders guiding future achievements," Pan Jianwei, the project's chief scientist, told the agency.

Quantum communications holds "enormous prospects" in the field of defense, it added.

The satellite is named Micius after a 5th century BC Chinese philosopher and scientist who has been credited as the first person in human history to carry out optical experiments.