‘Aerospace NearLink’, which recently completed a test flight, is expected to reduce the weight of heavy rockets and lower launch costs. — SCMP
Chinese scientists have sent the world’s most powerful wireless communication protocol into space, slashing transmission delays from milliseconds to microseconds.
A space version of China’s NearLink or “Xing Shan” wireless communication module for rockets had successfully completed a test flight, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) announced in a social media post last week.
Originally proposed in 2020 by China’s “Xing Shan Alliance” of tech and telecoms experts, the technology is a short-range communication solution that aims to replace Bluetooth. It offers advantages such as low latency or transmission delays, high speed, and resistance to interference.
This space version, dubbed “Aerospace NearLink”, was developed by Beijing Aerospace Wanyuan Science & Technology, a subsidiary of state-owned China Aerospace Corporation (CASC).
The innovation is expected to significantly reduce the weight of heavy rockets and lower launch costs.
The research team said they had sharpened its communication range and stability to meet the specific demands of space applications – to create an aerospace version that enabled wireless, cable-free network access on rockets.
“On a heavy-lift rocket, the cable network can weigh up to 500kg (1,100lbs) – about the same as three ‘Yutu’ lunar rovers,” Wang Hao, the research and development lead at Wanyuan, said in a company report last month. “Replacing these cables with wireless technology would save space and reduce the payload, significantly lowering launch costs.”
Although in theory a cable-free rocket system has many advantages, it has yet to be actually applied. Yang Jialin, an R&D team member, noted that the key challenges were ensuring both autonomy and security for Chinese aerospace technology.
“Previously, China lacked a short-range wireless communication standard, and technologies like WiFi or Bluetooth would require external devices for signal encryption, which would introduce latency, limiting their practical use,” she said.
The Xing Shan technology is fully indigenous – with both the protocol and chips developed by Chinese companies, allowing for a completely domestic and controllable system.
The Xing Shan Alliance includes major players such as the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the China Automotive Technology and Research Centre, telecoms service provider China Mobile and tech giant Huawei.
In August 2023, Huawei incorporated this technology into its Mate 60 smartphone and introduced supporting products like earphones and stylus pens. Other companies such as ThundeRobot and Darmoshark have also launched low-latency peripherals such as wireless mice and keyboards that support Xing Shan technology.
The R&D team at Wanyuan began their project in September 2023, and achieved both extended communication range and resistance to interference in just about a year.
While traditional Xing Shan technology has a range of only 30 metres (98 feet), antenna and frequency design optimisations increased this to 250 metres.
Under the extreme conditions of space, such as huge temperature differences and fluctuations, shocks, vibration, and electromagnetic interference, the traditional Xing Shan module experienced a packet – or data – loss rate of up to 1.58%. The new version developed by the team reduced this rate to below 0.01%.
According to the company report, the Xing Shan aerospace technology leads in multiple areas, including power consumption, speed, coverage, and transmission reliability.
“Its transmission latency is just one-30th of traditional wireless technologies, offering 30 times the interaction capacity in the same amount of time – shifting from millisecond to microsecond speeds. Moreover, it uses only 60% of the power consumed by previous technologies,” the report said.
As a foundational technology, the hardware specifics of the Xing Shan aerospace technology and its future applications remain unclear.
The South China Morning Post has contacted Wanyuan Aerospace for comment. – South China Morning Post
