The TELEO payload onboard the Badr-8 satellite. Photo: Airbus

Airbus and the French Space Agency CNES have completed the TELEO mission demonstrating very high throughput laser communications between Geostationary Orbit (GEO) and Earth. TELEO is an optical communications payload hosted onboard the Arabsat Badr-8 telecommunications satellite that launched in 2023.

According to CNES, TELEOS demonstrated reliable links to the prototype ground station called FrOGS (French optical ground station) under a wide range of conditions and demonstrated bi-directional laser transmissions at up to 9 Gbps. There were 22 days of demonstrations between TELEO and FrOGS for more than 60 hours of active communication. 

“Laser communications to and from space will reshape the telecoms market, similar to how optical fiber transformed telecoms on ground,” commented Philippe Pham, head of Telecommunications and Navigation systems at Airbus. “TELEO is the next generation of laser satellite communication, demonstrating very high speed and resilient connectivity from GEO orbit to the ground.” 

Complementary test campaigns were carried out with European Space Agency (ESA), ONERA and France’s Defence Innovation Agency at sites across Europe. The first communication links were achieved with various data rates by an Airbus ground station team in the Netherlands, relying on an existing ESA ground facility in Tenerife, Spain.

Airbus said the payload will likely be reactivated in the future for additional demonstration tests and to assess future optical ground stations.