NASA wants to update its existing radio communications system on the International Space Station (ISS) with optical communication technology. Optical communication systems, which use laser beams to transmit information through space, promise the ability to transmit data between a spacecraft and Earth at a much higher rate than radio-frequency systems. Our researchers are designing ILLUMA-T*, a laser terminal that will provide an optical communications link from the ISS to NASA‘s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration satellite, which, in turn, will use optical communications to relay the data from the ISS link to a ground terminal at a rate 10 to 100 times faster than current radio frequency communications systems.
Archiv: Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) / satellite
NASA’s Laser Communications Relay: A Year of Experimentation
(Jun 28, 2023)
The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) uses infrared light, or invisible lasers, to transmit and receive signals rather than radio wave systems conventionally used on spacecraft. Infrared light’s tight wavelengths allow space missions to pack significantly more data – 10 to 100 times more – into a single transmission. More data means more discoveries.
Now, at the halfway point in its experimentation phase, LCRD has shown laser communications’ significant advantages over traditional radio wave systems.