Discover how laser communication systems are adding value to smallsat and CubeSat missions.
As the number of satellites in orbit continues to rise there is a greater need for effective communication solutions that can handle increasing data volumes. Optical communications may hold the answer, enabling operators to get more data from space to Earth faster and more efficiently.
The drive for optical communication is also due to the crowding of traditional radio options in frequencies such as the S-band and X-band, which have been used for decades for satellite communication.
Space-space and space-ground communications are the primary use cases for optical laser communications (lasercom) and in this article we take a look at how the technology works and share some of the products available on the market today.
Please note that focus only on space-based transceivers and communications in this piece, not their ground segment counterparts. We also share some details on the advantages and disadvantages that they bring, as a quick guide to understanding the promise of the technology. If you are familiar with the technology and would prefer to skip down to see the product listings, please click here.
Navigation
- Advantages of optical communication
- Disadvantages of optical comms
- Commercial satellite laser communication systems
- Early history of laser communication in space
- Laser communication for small satellites
- Laser communication on CubeSats
- Resources and further reading
Advantages of optical communication
Satellite communications systems utilizing free-space optical communication (FSO) technology have been planned and tested for many years, across a variety of missions.
Whether used for space-to-ground data downlinks, or as an optical inter-satellite link (OISL), laser communications can offer several advantages over traditional radio equipment including:
- Bandwidth / Higher data rates, so more information may be transmitted in less time and using lower power
- Better signal-to-noise ratio (though this is weather-dependent) due to higher directivity
- Lack of interference due to the highly directional beam
- Smaller antennae and lower overall power requirements (i.e. lower SWaP budget required)
- Increased spectrum availability
- Narrow beams that are difficult to intercept and jam
- No International Telecommunication Union (ITU) coordination needed, unlike in radio frequency (RF) communications
Laser-based communication is effective over hundreds of thousands of kilometres and has been achieved between the Earth and the Moon. Studies have shown that it could potentially be used across interplanetary distances of millions of kilometers, deploying optical telescopes as beam expanders.
As the list above shows, optical communications systems have the potential to both improve and enable a wide variety of space-based applications and services – from simple Earth Observation (EO) missions to the development of large-scale high-performance optical backbone networks.
But, as with everything in space engineering, they are not without certain trade-offs.
Disadvantages of optical comms
On the other hand, there are some aspects of optical satellite communications products that can cause issues such as:
- Higher pointing accuracy, or beam precision, is needed on satellites compared to RF systems, which can have knock-on engineering impacts
- There is a higher potential for weather-based disruptions to affect system performance (e.g. fog, precipitation
- Laser communications can lead to increased mission complexity and risk
- The Sun is a noise source for optical detectors
- May require more powerful on-board computing power in some circumstances
These are typically only minor trade-offs in most mission profiles, and every year more optical communications technology is proven in the market, gaining greater heritage and reducing risk for engineers interested in using them.
In the next section we take a close look at the current state of the laser communication market with listings of specific units that are commercially-available today, or in the latter stages of development.
Commercial satellite laser communication systems
As commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components have become more prominent and widely used in small satellites/CubeSats, and the Earth Observation (EO) sector particularly has seen an increase in the number of manufacturers adopting small satellites, the need for higher data rates is growing every year.
This presents a great opportunity for the manufacturers of satellite laser communications equipment and below we have listed a number of space-based optical transceivers available on the global marketplace in various stages of development, testing and maturity.
Please note that this list will be updated when new products are added to the global marketplace for space – so please check back for more or sign up for our mailing list for updates.
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The AAC Clyde CubeCat is a laser communications module that enables a bidirectional space-to-ground communication link between a CubeSat and an optical ground station, with downlink speeds of up to 1 Gbps and uplink data rate of 200 Kbps.
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The EXA ICEPS is an all-in-one, configurable spacecraft system core, designed to be the central operational heart for CubeSats. ICEPS compresses the functions of many cards into a single, 25mm-thick system, using modularity for fully customizable hardware that can range from being simply an EPS or including a range of features.
The Aalyria Tightbeam - Optical Communication System is a laser communications solution designed to deliver fast operations, with high data rates, in troublesome atmospheric conditions.
The Astrogate Labs ASTRO-LINK is a fully integrated laser communication system providing 1Gbps satellite-to-ground communication for cube/nanosats.
The Astrologht ATLAS-1 is a Space to Ground Laser Communication Terminal designed for satellite applications. It is a beaconless scalable laser communication terminal developed to use for space-to-ground operation. The beaconless design and in-orbit Tx/Rx beam alignment reduces complexity and manufacturing costs. This also increases the reliability of the terminal for several operations. The terminal is optimized for operation with Astrolight’s 14-inch optical ground station.
The Blue Cubed Cobalt Laser Communications System is a self-contained lasercom system offering gigabit-per-second class links in a low SWaP device.
Bridgecomm manufactures Free-space Optical (FSO) Communication Terminals - space and airborne terminals for communications.
The CACI International CrossBeam® Optical Communication Terminal is a robust and flexible Free Space Optical (FSO) system compliant with Space Development Agency (SDA) requirements.
It features a steering optical head with a fine tracking mechanism and a common hemispherical beam, and is suitable for LEO, MEO, and GEO applications.
The CACI International SkyLight® Optical Communication Terminal (OCT) is a fully integrated system designed to offer satellite crosslink and up/down link capabilities for CubeSats.
It has a 2-axis beam steering capability that provides ±50° beam steering, in a 1.5U form factor, and it can be utilized for both space-to-ground and space-to-air communication links.
The CACI International Compact Intersatellite Communications and Data Link (CICADA™) Ultra-Lite optical inter-satellite link (OISL) terminal is a low SWaP, full duplex system capable of providing data rates of 150 Mb/s @ 2000 km and 75 Mb/s @ 4000 km.
The CACI International Compact Intersatellite Communications and Data Link (CICADA™) Enhanced (E-1G) optical inter-satellite link (OISL) terminal is a low SWaP, full duplex system capable of providing data rates of 1 Gb/s @ 7500 km, 10 Gb/s @ 3000 km, and 100 Mb/s @ 84,000 km.
Hanwha Systems' LEO Inter-Satellite Link (ISL) Technology has been successfully tested at a range of over 1.4 kilometers, recording a data transmission speed of 1 Gbps.
The Honeywell/Ball Optical Inter-Satellite Link (OISL) Communication Terminal is a modular, compact, and full-duplex laser communications system designed to meet the needs of large LEO and MEO constellations.
It is ITAR free and features an optical head unit (OHU), providing the free-space-to-fiber-optic interface, a transceiver for the optical to electrical interface, and controller electronics.
The Mynaric CONDOR Mk2 is an optical communication terminal suitable for inter-satellite space-space, space-air, space ground connectivity. The optical communication does not require ITU or FCC frequency coordination. The system by design offers higher reliability, performance, bandwidth, and built-in redundancy with 7+ years lifetime in LEO.
The Mynaric Condor Mk3 is an optical communication terminal suitable for inter-satellite space-space, space-air, space ground connectivity. The optical communication does not require ITU or FCC frequency coordination. The system by design offers higher reliability, performance, bandwidth, and built-in redundancy with 7+ years lifetime in LEO.
The Odysseus CYCLOPS is a satellite and ground laser terminal suitable for microsatellite constellations in LEO. The CYCLOPS-DT is a laser terminal for connecting satellite in space to ground for data transmission. CYCLOPS-GT is a ground terminal laser-based solution designed for data transmission from satellites equipped with CYCLOPS-DT.
The Safran Data Systems Cortex Lasercom - Optical Digital Processor Unit is a multi-mission optical terminal designed to provide a data rate of up to 10 Gbps in OOK and DPSK, from LEO to GEO missions.
The SpaceX Plug and Plaser is a satellite-based laser communications terminal, and avionics bridge, that utilizes the Starlink satellite and ground station network.
Plug and Plaser terminals are designed to enable high rate and low latency data relay services for systems in LEO, providing optical inter-satellite links (OISLs) in a wide range of mission applications.
The Stellar Project LaserCube is a 2-way laser communication terminal enabling downlink and intersatellite link through optical channels for small satellites. The optical communication solutions are designed to have higher performance than radiofrequency solutions. The system does not have any regulatory or licensing issues and also has an enhanced security as the links cannot be intercept/jammed.
The Tesat SCOT20 - Smallsat Optical Communication Terminal is a 1U, 1.6kg lasercom system operating in the range LEO to LEO/LEO to Ground; 2,000 km.
The Tesat SCOT80 - Optical Communication Terminal for Satellite Networks is a lasercom system designed for LEO broadband constellations, with a operating range of 8,000 km.
The Tesat SCOT135 - Optical Communication Terminal for Multi-Orbit Connectivity is a lasercom system designed for MEO and GEO constellation and relay applications, with an 80,000 km range.
The Tesat ConLCT80 is a laser communication terminal designed for low earth orbit (LEO) broadband satellites. It has a bidirectional channel data rate of 10 Gbps and beaconless pointing acquisition and tracking. Depending on the data rate it consumes power between 60 Watts to 80 Watts. The product weighs 15 kgs and has a service lifetime of five years.
The Tesat CubeLCT is a laser communication transmitter for Low Earth Orbit(LEO) to Ground data transmission with 100 Mbps data rate. The system has acheived flight heritage. It was part of the PIXL-1 mission in January 2021.
The Voyager Space µLCT™ Laser Communication Terminal is a full duplex suitable for LEO, MEO, and GEO applications, including use as an OISL (Optical Inter Satellite Link), a spacecraft to ground link, or a spacecraft to UAV link.
The system can provide data rates up to 400+ Gbps and is capable of GEO-to-GEO crosslinks at 80,000 km.
The Xenesis Xen-Hub is an optical space-based communication terminal consisting of an electronics/photonic modem module, optical head module and an optical amplifier (EDFA) module. The Xen-hub by design can be used as both uplink or downlink space terminal or an optical inter-satellite link (OISL) terminal.
The Xenesis Xen-Link is an optical communication system consisting of space-based terminal, Xen-hub and optical ground terminal, Xen-node. The Xen-Link uses single wavelength for uplink and downlink paths. Xen-Link is a full turn-key free space communication solution. The system consists of flight certified hardware and features fully interoperable space and ground segments.
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Early history of laser communication in space
Early demonstrations of laser communication technologies date back to the mid-90s. The Communications Research Laboratory (CRL) in Japan successfully demonstrated the Laser Communication Experiment (LCE) on the Japanese Engineering Test Satellite-VI (ETS-VI) satellite in 1994 with the first purpose-built lasercom satellite for demonstrating space-to-ground laser communications.
The ARTEMIS program, a European-led mission, demonstrated bi-directional laser communication between a geostationary orbit and the European Space Agency (ESA) Optical Ground Station (OGS). This incorporated narrower beam divergences than the LCE mission, which allowed higher data rates and enabled a better understanding of atmospheric impairments, particularly at low zenith angles.
The geostationary satellite-based missions allowed for the use of a fixed ground terminal to conduct repetitive measurement of link parameters over many days and have enabled the improvement of propagation models and design changes of subsequent lasercom missions.
Laser communication for small satellites
Small satellites predominantly operate in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and offer a low-cost platform for researchers to test technologies such as satellite laser communications. For example, the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) have used such platforms to successfully demonstrate laser communications using satellites in LEO over the last few years.
Table 1: Recent significant missions incorporating small satellite laser communication terminals
| SOTA | OSIRISv2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | NICT, Japan | DLR, Germany |
| Launch date | May 24, 2014 | June 22, 2016 |
| Satellite | SOCRATES (48 kg) | BIROS (130 kg) |
| Mass | 5.9 kg | 5 kg |
| Size | 18×11×10 cm | 25×20×10 cm |
| Beacon | 1 µm unmodulated | 1560 nm modulated |
| Downlink | 800, 980, 1549 nm | 1545, 1550 nm |
| Modulation | On-Off Keying | On-Off Keying |
| Max. bitrate | 10 Mbit/s | 1 Gbit/s |
Laser communication on CubeSats
As satellites are getting smaller the need to fit in communications systems that will allow the reduced form factor at lower power and with higher data rates has generated significant interest in laser communications for CubeSats.
The first (brave) attempt to demonstrate laser communication on a CubeSat was on-board FITSAT-1, a 1U system developed at the Fukuoka Institute of Technology in Japan. The satellite carried two arrays of high-power light-emitting diodes (LEDs) along with an experimental RF transceiver and was deployed in October 2012 by the robotic arm of the International Space Station (ISS).
FITSAT-1 used a neodymium magnet as a passive attitude control system with a panel containing 50 green 3W LEDs, achieving 200-W pulses and modulated with a 1-kHz Morse-code signal.
A photomultiplier coupled to a 25 cm ground telescope was used to receive the signals on the ground. Interestingly, the flight model of the FITSAT-1 laser communication payload was tested between the beach of the Fukuoka and the rooftop of the eight-story building of the university which were 12 km apart from each other.
In August 2018, The Aerospace Corporation in the US tested a laser communication system during a mission named Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration (OCSD) with two LEO CubeSats known as AeroCube-7B and Aerocube-7C. The satellites successfully transmitted data at a rate of 100 Mbps.
Today there are various lasercom products available or approaching the marketplace that have built on these early developments, bringing some significant benefits compared to existing solutions.
Resources and further reading
At the links below you can find a range of satsearch articles that will be useful for learning more about this topic, or that feature other categories of technologies which you may need to consider in your mission.
- Optical inter-satellite link (OISL) solutions for LEO
- Satellite electrical power systems (EPS) on the global market
- CubeSat thrusters and in-space propulsion
- Software-defined radios (SDRs) for space
- Control moment gyroscopes
- On-board computers (OBCs) for space
- Optical payloads for space
- Satellite software providers on the global market
- Payload processors for satellites
- A brief introduction to the space supply chain