NASA will test the laser fiber in space!

Nasa is preparing to test and demonstrate from geostationary orbit a state-of-the-art laser optics technology for communicating in space. The goal is to succeed in transmitting over very long distances large quantities of data that the radio waves currently used have great difficulty in relaying in short time frames. This experiment is installed aboard the United States Space Force's STPSat-6 satellite, which is scheduled for launch on December 5.

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For its next mission with an Atlas V launcher (version 551), ULA will two demonstration satellites for new technologies and risk reduction as part of the space program of the U.S. Air Force and the United States Space Force. The launch is scheduled for December 5 from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Base in Florida. The two satellites will be placed in a geosynchronous orbit, at more than 36,000 kilometers.

This STP-3 mission plans to put into orbit the space vehicle Space Test Program Satellite 6 (STPSat-6) which will carry the experimental nuclear explosion detection system Space and Atmospheric Burst Reporting System-3 (SABRS-3) of the National Nuclear Security Administration as well as NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration System (LCRD). The satellite has an adapter to which secondary payloads are attached.

The STPSat-6 satellite aboard which the LCDR experiment is located. We see the receiver and the laser transmitter which are bagged in order to remain as clean as possible. A star tracker is located just below. © NASA, U.S. Air Force

LCRD is NASA's laser communications relay demonstration system that foreshadows the future of space communications, without definitively dispensing with radio waves, which will always have their usefulness. NASA's technological bet, already won by Europe which has an operational laser communication system around the Earth (EDRS), is to succeed in transmitting over very long distances large quantities of data which could lead to speed gains multiplied by 10 to 100 times compared to radio links. That said, radio communications will still be used despite its disadvantage due to the fact that it propagates rain or snow, unlike laser which is susceptible to being blocked by clouds or disturbed by the atmosphere. of a planet.

Eliminate transmission delays which make immediate access to satellite data impossible

To understand the interest of such a system, you should know that today space missions and Earth observation satellites generate such large volumes of data that radio frequencies have a hard time relaying them back to Earth in very short times. In addition, the New Space ecosystem has given rise to a multitude of new public and commercial services based on the speed of acquisition and use of data from Earth observation. As for the probes sent to worlds other than Earth, the technological performance of observation, analysis and study instruments is such that traditional space communication networks saturate to relay data to Earth.

See alsoEDRS: very high speed between satellites soon

While Europe has a head start with EDRS developed and produced within the framework of a public-private partnership (PPP) set up between ESA and Airbus, NASA's objective is to provide a laser communication system capable of exchanging data between the Earth, the Moon, Mars and the infrastructures in orbit around these two planets and our natural satellite.

You will understand, LCRD is not an operational system but a technological demonstration. It is expected to be able to transfer data at a rate of 1.2 gigabits per second between LCDR and ground stations in California and Hawaii. This speed is almost double the transfer rates achieved in 2013 during the LLCD technology demonstration, aboard NASA's Ladee lunar probe, which relayed data from the Moon using an optical signal to a 622 megabits per second.

For NASA, it is not just a question of demonstrating that its system is capable of transferring data with such a speed. She also wants to understand how the atmosphere can degrade and disturb the optical signal. LCRD will also be used as a testbed to lay the groundwork for advanced communication techniques. One thinks of the adaptive optics systems of future giant telescopes, of new standardized protocols for the exchange of information in order to replace proprietary protocols for example.

To find out more

A laser to communicate between Mars and Earth

Article by Rémy Decourt published on 04/03/2005

Mars is a priority objective for NASA, as shown by its planetary exploration program for the period 2009 and 2020, which focuses essentially on the issue of life, the return of samples and the development of precursor missions to the planet. exploration of the planet Mars.

In a few years, NASA expects that many missions (landers, rovers and orbiters) will be in operational activity on Mars at the same time. It therefore wants to equip itself with a new communication system between its missions and the Earth, different from the traditional radio wave system currently used.

Today, the communication time between a Martian probe and the Earth can reach up to 20 minutes. This delay is incompressible, but NASA would like to increase the transmission capacities in order to be better informed of the scientific measurements carried out on Mars and its surroundings, but also to obtain precise data as to the state of the various spacecraft.

NASA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are working on a new laser communication system between the two planets capable of transmitting up to 30 million bits per second, which would be as fast as allowed the use of optical fiber for example. This system would be 10 times faster than transmission by radio waves.

For this, the Mars Laser Communications Demonstration has been developed and is to be launched in 2009 on the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO). It will operate for at least a year in orbit around Mars and will transmit data from active missions. This period will be used by NASA to carry out a whole series of tests and technical validation.

It will mainly be a question of securing transmissions, measuring the loss of the signal, due to the distance which separates Mars from the Earth and mastering the technique of pointing the beam, an essential condition for receiving the data.

Ultimately, NASA wants to significantly improve its ability to communicate throughout the Solar System.

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External LinksLaser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD)U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems CommandRelated definitionsDefinition of "laser"What does "solar system" mean? What is EDRS? What is atlas v? What does "rover" mean?