China Launches Commercial Satellite into Space

According to CGTN television, China has launched the world's first commercial satellite equipped with artificial intelligence into space. The channel reports that "the satellite was launched from a spaceport near the city of Yangjiang in Guangdong Province, southern China, at 11:06 local time (06:06 Moscow time) on Saturday, February 3, 2024, using the Smart Dragon 3 (SD-3) launch vehicle, carrying the satellite Rongpiao, also known as Xingshidai-18, alongside eight other undisclosed satellites." It is noteworthy that "Russian scientists established a protected quantum channel between Russia and China using a satellite." The Chinese quantum communications satellite Mo Tzu was used to transmit a cryptographic key over a distance of more than 3,500 kilometers. Additionally, the ground station in Zvyozdny Gorodok, built by Russian experts, was able to exchange encrypted images measuring 256 x 64 pixels with the ground station in Nanshan, China.