They contact a satellite using a laser beam fired from Earth

Historically, space missions have used radio frequencies to send data from Earth to space and from space to Earth, but with modern scientific instruments collecting much more data, radio communication systems are facing increasing demand. , which takes them to their capacity limit.

If the distance between the ship and Earth is not very great, there is a new option that promises better results: a laser beam. This can make it possible to transfer between 10 and 100 times more data than through radio waves.

Systems of this kind are already being tested. The infrared light used for laser communications transmits data using a shorter wavelength than radio, meaning more data can be sent and received per second.

A module the size of a tissue box, NASA’s TBIRD (TeraByte InfraRed Delivery) and its carrier spacecraft, PTD-3 (Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-3) have spent the last two years breaking world speed records in the downlink (from space to Earth) via laser beam communication.

Shortly before the end of the mission, an experiment was carried out in the opposite direction: an uplink, that is, the emission of a laser beam from the Earth’s surface to the TBIRD.

The broadcast was carried out from NASA’s LCOT (Low-Cost Optical Terminal), a ground-based laser station made with modified commercial hardware.

The LCOT, located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. (Photo: NASA)

The experiment was a success, as subsequent analyzes have confirmed.

The LCOT emitted a laser beam towards the TBIRD. The LCOT produced sufficient uplink strength for the TBIRD to identify the laser beacon, connect, and maintain connection with the ground station for more than three minutes. The success of this test constitutes a major achievement for laser communications: connecting the LCOT laser beacon from Earth to the TBIRD required pointing the target with one milliradian of precision. (Fountain: NCYT by Amazings)