[Connecting Asia and Africa across the hemisphere! China has achieved satellite-to-ground quantum communication over tens of thousands of kilometers for the first time] On March 20, it was learned from the University of Science and Technology of China that the school's Pan Jianwei, Peng Chengzhi, Liao Shengkai and others cooperated with multiple scientific research teams at home and abroad to achieve the first real-time satellite-to-ground quantum key distribution between quantum micro-nano satellites and miniaturized, mobile ground stations in the world, achieving up to 1 million bits of secure key sharing during a single satellite pass, and establishing quantum keys over a distance of more than 12,900 kilometers between China and South Africa, completing the "one-time one-key" encryption and transmission of image data, paving the way for practical satellite quantum communication networking. (Xinhua News Agency)
