China achieves key milestone in satellite-ground laser communication

The 500mm aperture laser communication ground system independently developed by the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences entered regular operation on the Pamir Plateau on Sunday. This marked China's first operational satellite-ground laser communication ground station to be put into use.

Data transmitted from satellites to ground needs to be received, processed, archived, and distributed by ground stations. Therefore, ground stations are pivotal in the transmission of space information, said Wang Jianping, director of the Kashgar Ground Station of the institute.