Satellite Lasercom
Technology Roadmap Sections
Roadmap Overview
Satellite Laser Communication (LaserCom) is a method of transferring data through an optical link using an onboard high-power laser system. This breaks from the historically standard Radio Frequency (RF) communication that has been used for satellites uplink and downlink since their inception. While a modern day RF communication link is considered high performing in the 100 - 500 MegaBit per second (Mbps) downlink data rate, an optical link can outperform this by up to 4 orders of magnitude. The TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) from NASA and MIT Lincoln Labs was able to demonstrate a sustained downlink of up to 200 Gbps in 2023. Lasercom data transfer may occur via uplink: ground station to satellite, downlink: satellite to ground, or intersatellite links: satellite to satellite. However, this technology is not without its challenges and limitations. Namely, a direct and accurately pointed path is required from lasercom source to its destination terminal in order to establish a valid link. In high orbital period orbits, such as LEO this may only allow for a link lasting several minutes per period. However, even with this limitation Lasercom technology allows vastly higher communication data rates and total information transfer at 10-100x that of the more conventional radio frequency communications.
How it works: Lasercom utilizes the ability to create oscillations in light waves in lasers to pack a high data volume into the data beam waveform. In its simplest form, information is transmitted by modulating light and broadcasting it over some medium (wire or air). Following this logic, we understand the driving physical limitation is the frequency of the light; how much information can be encoded in modulation in a unit time. The higher the frequency of the light used, the faster the signal can be modulated and the throughput is increased. The defining disruptive aspect of optical communication is exactly this: a fundamental shift along the electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to higher optical frequencies, yielding much larger data bandwidth possibilities.
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References
[1]Williams, D., “RF and optical communications: A comparison of high data rate ... - core,” NASA Available: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/10536487.pdf.
[2]Schauer, K., “NASA Laser Communications Innovations: A timeline,” NASA Available: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/tech-demonstration/nasa-laser-communications-innovations-a-timeline/.
[3]“Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) overview,” NASA Available: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/tech-demo-missions-program/laser-communications-relay-demonstration-lcrd-overview/.
[4]“The nobel prize in physics 2023,” NobelPrize.org Available: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2023/press-release/.
[5]“9.0 communications,” NASA State of the Art Report Available: https://www.nasa.gov/smallsat-institute/sst-soa/soa-communications/.
[6]On-orbit demonstration of 200-Gbps laser communication downlink from ... Available: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20230000434/downloads/Schieler%20paper%20spie2023-tbird-v4.pdf.
[7]“Laser Communication in space,” Wikipedia Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_communication_in_space.