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Laser communication in space

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Laser space communication is the use of lasers for telecommunications in space. It is an application of laser communications and visible light communication.

Two solar-powered satellites communicating optically in space via lasers


In outer space, the communication range of free-space optical communication[1] is currently of the order of several thousand kilometers,[2] but has the potential to bridge interplanetary distances of millions of kilometers, using optical telescopes as beam expanders.[3]

Significant Demonstrations

The first gigabit laser-based communication was achieved by the European Space Agency and called the European Data Relay System (EDRS) on November 28th, 2014.[4] The initial images have just been demonstration, and a working system is expected to be in place in the 2015-2016 time frame.

The successful OPALS experiment

NASA's OPALS announced a breakthrough in space-to-ground communication December 9th, 2014, uploading 175 megabytes in 3.5 seconds. Their system is also able to re-acquire tracking after the signal was lost due to cloud cover. [5]

In January 2013, NASA used lasers to beam an image of the Mona Lisa to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter roughly 390,000 km (240,000 mi) away. To compensate for atmospheric interference, error correction code algorithm similar to that used in CDs was implemented.[6]

The distance records for optical communications involved detection and emission of laser light by space probes. A two-way distance record for communication was set by the Mercury laser altimeter instrument aboard the MESSENGER spacecraft. This infrared diode neodymium laser, designed as a laser altimeter for a Mercury orbit mission, was able to communicate across a distance of 24 million km (15 million miles), as the craft neared Earth on a fly-by in May, 2005. The previous record had been set with a one-way detection of laser light from Earth, by the Galileo probe, as two ground-based lasers were seen from 6 million km by the out-bound probe, in 1992.[7]

Flight tests

Space probe design concept using optical rather than radio communication
  • An in-space laser communication experiment was one of four science instruments launched with the NASA Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission on 7 Sept 2013. After a month-long transit to the Moon, and a 40-day spacecraft checkout, the laser comm experiments will occur over an approximately three-month period of time, in late 2013 to early 2014.[8]
  • Laser communication has also been demonstrated on aircraft and high altitude platforms. Applications can be found in the transmission of large data amounts directly from an aircraft (e.g. an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle UAV) to the ground or in the interconnection of stratospheric platforms to build up high-performance backbone networks.[10] A laser link from a jet platform Tornado was successfully demonstrated for the first time in November 2013. A laser terminal of the German company ViaLight Communications was used to transmit data at a rate of 1Gbit/s over a distance of 60 km and at a flight speed of 800 km/h. Additional challenges in this scenario were the fast flight maneuvers, strong vibrations, and the effects of atmospheric turbulence. The demonstration was financed by EADS Cassidian Germany and performed in cooperation with the German Aerospace Center DLR.[11][12][13]
  • The ESA European Data Relay System uses Laser Communication Terminal technology, where each terminal is designed to transmit 1.8 Gbit/s across 45,000 km, the distance of a LEO-GEO link. Such a terminal was successfully tested during an in-orbit verification using the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X and the American NFIRE satellite.[14] Further system- and operational service demonstrations were carried out in 2014. Data from the Sentinel-1A satellite in LEO was transmitted via an optical link to the Alphasat in GEO and then relayed to a ground station using a conventional Ka band downlink. The new system can offer speeds up to 7.2 Gbit/s in the future.[15]

Missions

  • LADEE's Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) pulsed laser system conducted a successful test on October 18, 2013, transmitting data between the spacecraft and its ground station on Earth at a distance of 385,000 kilometres (239,000 mi). This test set a downlink record of 622 megabits per second (Mbps) from spacecraft to ground, and an "error-free data upload rate of 20 Mbps" from ground station to spacecraft.[16][17]
  • The OPALS experiment was launched on 18 April 2014 to the ISS to further test the potential for using a laser to transmit data to Earth from space.[18]


Secure Communications

Secure communications have been proposed using a laser N-slit interferometer where the laser signal takes the form of an interferometric pattern. Any attempt to intercept the signal causes the collapse of the interferometric pattern.[20] [21] This technique has been demonstrated to work over propagation distances of practical interest[22] and, in principle, it could be applied over large distances in space.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ Boroson, Don M. (2005), Optical Communications: A Compendium of Signal Formats, Receiver Architectures, Analysis Mathematics, and Performance Characteristics, retrieved 8 Jan 2013
  2. ^ "Another world first for Artemis: a laser link with an aircraft". European Space Agency. December 18, 2006. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  3. ^ Steen Eiler Jørgensen (October 27, 2003). "Optisk kommunikation i deep space– Et feasibilitystudie i forbindelse med Bering-missionen" (PDF). Dansk Rumforskningsinstitut. Retrieved June 28, 2011. (Danish) Optical Communications in Deep Space, University of Copenhagen
  4. ^ "First image download over new gigabit laser connection in space". Retrieved 3 Dec 2014.
  5. ^ Landau, Elizabeth (9 December 2014). "OPALS: Light Beams Let Data Rates Soar". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  6. ^ Peckham, Matt (January 21, 2013). "NASA Beams Mona Lisa Image Into Space". TIME. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Space probe breaks laser record: A spacecraft has sent a laser signal to Earth from 24 million km (15 million miles) away in interplanetary space". BBC News. January 6, 2006. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  8. ^ Dunn, Marcia (2013-09-07). "NASA launches robotic explorer to moon from Va.; trouble develops early in much-viewed flight". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  9. ^ a b Messier, Doug (2013-10-23). "NASA Laser System Sets Record with Data Transmissions From Moon". Parabolic Arc. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
  10. ^ J. Horwath, M. Knapek, B. Epple, M. Brechtelsbauer (July 21, 2006). "Broadband Backhaul Communication for Stratospheric Platforms: The Stratospheric Optical Payload Experiment (STROPEX)" (PDF). SPIE.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Optical data link successfully demonstrated between fighter plane and ground station, Dec. 2013
  12. ^ Extreme Test for the ViaLight Laser Communication Terminal MLT-20 – Optical Downlink from a Jet Aircraft at 800 km/h, Dec. 2013
  13. ^ Laserkommunikation zwischen Jet und Bodenstation
  14. ^ TerraSAR-X NFIRE test
  15. ^ "Laser link offers high-speed delivery". ESA. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  16. ^ Messier, Doug (October 22, 2013). "NASA Laser System Sets Record with Data Transmissions From Moon". Parabolic Arc. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  17. ^ "Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration Reveals Bright Future For Space Communication". NASA. Red Orbit. December 24, 2013. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
  18. ^ L. Smith, Stephanie; Buck, Joshua; Anderson, Susan (21 April 2014). "JPL Cargo Launched to Space Station". Jet PropulsionLaboratory. NASA. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
  19. ^ Reyes, Tim (1 October 2014). "Making the Case for a Mission to the Martian Moon Phobos". Universe Today. Retrieved 2014-10-05.
  20. ^ a b F. J. Duarte (May 2002). "Secure interferometric communications in free space". Optics Communications. 205 (4): 313–319. doi:10.1016/S0030-4018(02)01384-6.
  21. ^ F. J. Duarte (January 2005). "Secure interferometric communications in free space: enhanced sensitivity for propagation in the metre range". Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics. 7 (1). doi:10.1088/1464-4258/7/1/011.
  22. ^ F. J. Duarte, T. S. Taylor, A. M. Black, W. E. Davenport, and P. G. Varmette, N-slit interferometer for secure free-space optical communications: 527 m intra interferometric path length , J. Opt. 13, 035710 (2011).

Further reading

  • David G. Aviv (2006): Laser Space Communications, ARTECH HOUSE. ISBN 1-59693-028-4.
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