NASA Tests Laser Communication, Sending Data at 1.2Gbps

Since humans began to explore space, NASA has always used radio frequency systems to communicate with astronauts and aircraft, but with the increasing demand for data transmission, the old system has gradually become overwhelmed.

In this regard, NASA’s upcoming Laser Communications Relay Demonstration may completely change the way the agency communicates with future missions throughout the solar system.

According to NASA, the new laser communication system can bring more high-definition videos and photos from space.

The mission will be launched on December 5th from Cape Canaveral, Florida as a payload on the U.S. Department of Defense Space Test Program Satellite 6, the launch window between 4:04 AM and 6:04 AM Eastern Time (Beijing Time 17:04 to 19:04) remain open.

Since 1958, NASA has been using radio waves to communicate with astronauts and space missions. Although radio waves were able to complete missions before, space missions are becoming more and more complex and collecting more data than before.

The laser communication system will send data to the earth from an orbit synchronized with the rotation of the earth, 35,406 kilometers from the earth’s surface, and the data transmission speed is 1.2Gbps, which is equivalent to downloading a complete movie in one minute.

This will increase the data transfer rate, which is 10 to 100 times faster than radio waves. Infrared lasers, invisible to our eyes, have shorter wavelengths than radio waves, so they can transmit more data at once. Using the current radio wave system takes nine weeks to send back a complete map of Mars, but the laser system can be completed in nine days.

The Laser Communication Relay Demonstration is NASA’s first end-to-end laser relay system, which will send and receive data between space and two optical ground stations located in Table Mountain, California and Haleakala, Hawaii. These sites have telescopes that can receive the light from the laser and convert it into digital data. Unlike radio antennas, the volume of laser communication receivers can be reduced to only 1/44 of the volume. Because the satellite can both send and receive data, it is a true two-way system.

One of the disturbances to these terrestrial laser receivers is atmospheric disturbances, such as clouds and turbulence, which can interfere with laser signals passing through our atmosphere. This was taken into account when choosing the location of the two receivers, which are located at high altitudes, usually with sunny weather conditions.

Once the system reaches orbit, the team at the operations center in Las Cruz, New Mexico will start a laser communication relay demonstration and send data to the ground station.

The mission is expected to take two years to conduct tests and experiments, and then begin to be used in space missions, including the optical terminal that will be installed on the International Space Station in the future, which will be able to send scientific experiment data on the space station to the satellite, and the satellite will forward them Back to earth.

As a relay satellite, this demonstration can also help reduce the communication size, weight and power requirements of future spacecraft.

This means that future missions can reduce launch costs and have space to accommodate more scientific instruments.

IT Home understands that other tasks currently under development that may test laser communication capabilities include the Orion Artemis II optical communication system, which will allow NASA and Artemis astronauts to achieve HD video transmission during their adventures on the moon.

The Psyche mission, launched in 2022, will reach the asteroid destination in 2026. The mission will study a metallic asteroid over 150 million miles (241 million kilometers) and test its deep-space optical communications laser to transmit data back to Earth.