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.
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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.