In a major breakthrough, Chinese scientists have successfully teleported a photon from earth to a satellite called Micius in orbit, more than 300 miles (500km) away. 

It’s the farthest distance tested so far in teleportation experiments, the researchers said.

How did they do it?

The scientists achieved the feat through quantum entanglement, a process where two particles react as one with no physical connection between them.

”An arbitrary unknown quantum state cannot be precisely measured or perfectly replicated. However, quantum teleportation allows faithful transfer of unknown quantum states from one object to another over long distance, without physical travelling of the object itself, the paper describes the process. 

“This work establishes the first ground-to-satellite up-link for faithful and ultra-long-distance quantum teleportation, an essential step toward global-scale quantum internet,” says the team.