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What China's Earth-Moon laser breakthrough means for space exploration
04 September 2026

What China's Earth-Moon laser breakthrough means for space exploration

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China has successfully demonstrated a two-way laser communication link across more than 400,000 kilometers between Earth and the Moon. How significant is this breakthrough? Why do we need it, and what could it mean for humanity as we begin to explore, work and perhaps one day live beyond Earth?
Host Xu Yawen is joined by Zhang Fan, Associate Professor, Department of Astronomy, Beijing Normal University; Xu Yansong, the Director-General of the Asia Pacific Space Cooperation Organization; and Dr. Jon Clarke, President, the Mars Society of Australia, and an associate member of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology at the University of New South Wales, to explore how this technology could reshape the way we communicate in deep space.