NASA has developed a new laser-based space communication system, aiming to enable higher rates of satellite communications with similar capability to high-speed fiber optic networks on Earth.

 

NASA’s first high-data-rate laser communication system Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD)’s space terminal was recently integrated onto the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft. LLCD uses an infrared laser designed to demonstrate laser communications from lunar orbit to Earth at six times the rate of the best modern-day advanced radio communication systems. According to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center LLCD Manager Donald Cornwell, this is NASA’s first time having such a communication system pass all its tests and be certified flight ready. 

 

However, the challenge of LLCD will be to point its very narrow laser beam accurately while moving to ground stations across a distance of approximately 238,900 miles. To combat this challenge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory developers have created an advanced system designed to cancel out the slightest spacecraft vibrations.

 

Engineers predict that space missions in the future will be able to utilize the low mass and power requirements of laser communication technology to provide increased data quantity for 3-D high-definition video and real-time communication.

 

The LADEE mission, on which LLCD is a hosted payload, is scheduled for an August 2013 launch.