Space Laser Communications are Becoming a Reality
The space-based laser communication market is projected to reach $4.1 billion dollars by 2031, according to a new market intelligence study published by ASDReports. The study also highlights that the market is set to witness a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 26.98% during the period.
Space-based laser communication, also known as free-space optical communication (FSO), uses an optical communication technology by light propagation in free space to wirelessly transmit data for telecommunication or computer networking. The advantages of space-based laser communication serve several business opportunities, such as large-scale communication through satellites and quantum key distribution (QKD) channels. Since space-based laser communication technology is proven to be a technically viable solution, it has paved the way for various applications.
Among those is the Airbus SpaceDataHighway, which recently reached a milestone of 50,000 successful laser connections. During the first five years of routine operations these successful connections have downloaded more than three Petabytes of data, and have a service availability rate of greater than 99.7% in 2021.
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The SpaceDataHighway is a public-private partnership between the European Space Agency and Airbus, which owns and operates the system. It takes full advantage of the laser communication terminals developed by Tesat-Spacecom in cooperation with the DLR German Space Administration. SpaceDataHighway enables the transfer of data … including imagery, voice and video … from Low Earth Orbit satellites and airborne platforms to receiving ground stations across Europe using laser communications via the EDRS-A and EDRS-C geostationary satellites.
The system’s satellites are designed to lock on to low-orbiting satellites and collect their data as they travel in low Earth orbit scanning the Earth. From its position in geostationary orbit, the SpaceDataHighway acts as a relay, transmitting the large quantities of data acquired by these observation satellites down to Earth in near-real time, instead of storing the data on board until the satellites pass over their own ground station.
The system can download 230 gigabytes of data in a typical link session which lasts around 18 minutes on average, meaning the SpaceDataHighway is capable of relaying up to 40 terabytes of data acquired by observation satellites, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and other mobile assets to Earth. That’s like streaming more than 400,000 MP3 songs per day.
The establishment of the laser connections is controlled by the SpaceDataHighway’s Mission Operation Center, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week at an Airbus facility near Munich. Operators receive transmission requests from customers, program the space and ground segments, and monitor the performance of the communications.
Airbus is also developing user terminals to enable new applications. Recently, with the Netherlands’ organization for applied scientific research TNO, Airbus launched the UltraAir program to develop a laser communication terminal demonstrator for airborne platforms.
For Ex Terra, The Journal of Space Commerce, I’m Tom Patton