6G Already in the Orbit
At the beginning of November, China launched a rocket, which brought 13 satellites into the orbit. One of them is to be the „first 6G satellite”. Nobody is exactly sure what exactly this technology will be, but it can offer a data transfer rate of more than 100 Gb/s.
On November 6, a spacecraft with 13 satellites was launched from the Chinese space center at Taiyuan, Shaanxi province. They are designed to provide images of quality capable of distinguishing individual trees in the forest, which can help in the fight against illegal logging. The images in such high resolution will also be useful for assessing the effects of drought or other disasters affecting agriculture. However, one of the satellites, Tianyan-5, is unique - it will test communication using waves even above 1 THz (1000 GHz), which may allow for data transfer many times faster than in the case of the 5G technology, which is currently being implemented. If the tests show promise, it may be an important step towards developing the 6G technology.
It is not yet certain what exactly 6G technology will be. The norms are defined by 3GPP, an organization created in 1998 to develop standards for mobile systems. For now we only know that it will be the successor of the 5G technology that is still being implemented and will offer much higher data transfer speeds, even above 100 Gb/s.
The 5G technology uses millimetre waves and high, as for today's standards, frequencies. The 6G technology can move towards frequencies above 1 Thz. However, before we test 6G on our phone, scientists will have to find a way to solve the biggest problem of high frequency waves - their very low range.
It poses a problem in 5G technology and it is necessary to build a dense network of antennas, which raises a lot of concerns and conspiracy theories. As a result, scammers prey on gullible persons, selling "anti-5G shields".
