China's Quantum Science Satellite is operating well in orbit after testing and will begin its experiments this month, according to the project's lead scientist Pan Jianwei.

Launched on August 15, the satellite is designed to test quantum mechanic principles, including quantum entanglement over unprecedented distances, and the possibilities for secure quantum communication.

Pan told state media Xinhua that satellite-to-earth links have been established between 'QUESS' and five ground stations across China, laying the technical foundation for distributing quantum keys.

​"We are confident that the project will fulfill its tasks," Pan said.

The mission payloads include a quantum key communicator, quantum entanglement emitter, quantum entanglement source, quantum experiment controller and processor and a laser communicator.

QUESS has received much attention and hype from media across the globe, but remains an early experiment in the extremely demanding nascent field of quantum communication.

A new era of Chinese space science

QUESS is the third of four Chinese space science satellites that will be launched within a year of each other, marking the fruition of a strategic space science program launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2011.

The DAMPE (Wukong) Dark Matter probe was launched in December, followed by the Shijian-10 retrievable microgravity space science satellite in April.

The fourth, the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), recently passed factory tests and will launch late this year in order to observe black holes, neutron stars and other phenomena based on their X-ray and gamma ray emissions.

China earlier this year introduced a national roadmap for space science for 2016-2030 and the country is already working on the next batch of five new space probes to study a range of Earth, solar and deep space phenomena.

China’s nascent space science program also received a big budget boost earlier this year, receiving around 5.9 billion yuan (US$ 910m) across five years. (GBTimes)