A newly-developed quantum satellite earth station in Jinan, East China's Shandong province recently completed docking with the quantum satellite "Micius", local media reported.

The miniaturized portable quantum satellite earth station, first of its kind in China, was jointly developed by the University of Science and Technology of China, QuantumCTek Group and Jinan Institute of Quantum Technology.

The Jinan station is much smaller than the bulky earth station during the initial 2016 launch of Micius and weighs just over 80 kilograms.

The Chinese-developed Micius is the world's first quantum communication satellite. It received its name after the fifth century Chinese philosopher and scientist.

The satellite is designed to establish "hack-proof" quantum communications by transmitting uncrackable keys from space to the ground.

The Jinan earth station is a great technological breakthrough in quantum technology, said Zhang Qiang, executive director of the Jinan Institute of Quantum Technology.

The station will be used for research on quantum key distributions and related technologies and will provide support for government websites dealing with government affairs, finance and education.

The Jinan miniaturized quantum satellite earth station completes docking with the quantum satellite "Micius" on Dec 30. [Photo/xhby.net]