One thing science fiction has taught us: We’ll need lasers in space.
But if the movies teach us that their most common application is blasting away at rival star cruisers, in real life we’ll (hopefully) use them mainly to stay in touch.
Militaries, of course, are interested in lasers as a way to blind satellite sensors or even damage them permanently—the US has tested such systems, and intelligence analysts say China is developing them at a secret facility. But a laser that can damage something requires a good deal of power, much more than can be efficiently generated in space. Lasers used to transmit data don’t need that much juice—and they can carry information as many as 100 times faster than radio signals used most often today.
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Right now, there’s a lot of attention on this technology, which is also known as optical communications because data is encoded in light. After our previous edition asked what the next big tech advancement will be in space, the most common reply was “lasers.” SpaceX just launched a set of Starlink satellites that use a new generation of optical links. The US military’s Space Development Agency announced a $14 million project to demonstrate laser communications in space. And early next month, NASA will send an optical communications terminal to the International Space Station, where its designers expect it to transmit data down to Earth at a rate of 1.2 gigabits per second.
What makes laser communications difficult? Mainly, pointing: Lasers are by definition tightly focused beams of energy, and ensuring that transmissions from a satellite in orbit moving nearly 8,000 meters per second hits a modem hundreds of miles away requires precise engineering and complicated software. And lasers beaming data back to Earth can suffer interference from sources like solar radiation and cloud cover, which don’t affect radio transmissions.
All that difficulty adds up. Telecom entrepreneur Greg Wyler bailed on a plan to collaborate with Elon Musk on a satellite network in 2014 because Musk was insistent on using optical lasers on the spacecraft. But satellites with frickin’ lasers on their heads proved too expensive and difficult for the first years of the constellation: Starlink satellites only started regularly carrying laser links in 2022. Starlink’s optical links don’t connect to the ground; they relay data between satellites. That’s important for the global network because thousands of satellites rely on far fewer ground stations spread across the planet below. Laser links allow Starlink satellites to provide service over regions where there may not be ground station coverage by passing the data back to other spacecraft that are in range. It’s one way that Starlink can provide service in places like Ukraine or Iran where the company doesn’t have downlink stations to plug into the internet. That kind of flexibility is also of interest to governments, who appreciate the added benefit that laser communications are more difficult to intercept because of their focus. The Pentagon envisions its own satellite network, similar to Starlink, with laser optics sharing data between spacecraft. And at a time when NASA’s deep space network, used to talk to spacecraft and telescopes exploring the solar system, is reaching capacity, the agency plans to use an optical communications system on next year’s Artemis II mission, which is expected to send US astronauts on the first trip around the Moon since 1972.
Besides SpaceX, arguably the leader in space lasers, the company BridgeComm has developed optical comms kit intended for space users; General Atomics is working on that Pentagon demonstration; and space data companies like Capella are putting optical communications systems on their satellites to bring down high-resolution imagery from orbit.
It’s still early days for optical communications in space, but the wave of interest in the technology also testifies to an important trend in the sector: Humanity is getting ever more data from space and needs more efficient ways to bring it home.
🌕🌖🌗IMAGERY INTERLUDE
Intuitive Machines is currently on schedule to launch its Nova-C Moon lander on a SpaceX Falcon 9 no earlier than Nov. 15—which is likely to give Intuitive a shot at being the first private organization to land softly on the Moon. (Rival Astrobotic is waiting on ULA’s Vulcan rocket and expected to launch sometime before the end of the year). Here’s CEO Steve Altemus in front of the lander this week before it is shipped down to Cape Canaveral.
Photo: Tim Fernholz/Quartz
📡 📡 📡SPACE DEBRIS
The FCC dings Dish. In what is being called the first space debris penalty levied on a company, the Federal Communications Commission fined Dish Network $150,000 for failing to move its EchoStar-7 satellite to a disposal orbit when the spacecraft reached the end of its life in 2022.
State of the Elon Address. The International Astronautical Congress (IAC) is taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan this week, and Elon Musk will be there virtually to offer his annual address to the gathering of space agencies and companies. Expect it to stream on YouTube around 9:45 am ET Thursday morning.
Are Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman giving up on space stations? Two of the firms NASA seeded with funding to develop privately-operated space stations look to be abandoning the effort. Defense contractor Northrop is ending its stand-alone effort and providing transportation for a consortium lead by Voyager Space, while Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin reassigned the station team to other projects as its leader, Brent Sherwood, prepares to retire at the end of the year.
AST SpaceMobile’s satellite is really bright. The company’s BlueWalker 3 is one of the brightest objects in the sky, according to a new study. That’s because of the enormous antenna it needs to relay signals from ordinary mobile phones. Astronomers (and space debris watchers) fret about how the large spacecraft will affect their observations and orbital safety.
It’s Kuiper time. The first two satellites in Amazon’s Kuiper constellation are set to launch Oct. 6. on a ULA Atlas V rocket. The prototype spacecraft will test out Amazon’s approach to delivering connectivity from orbit, but we don’t know much more: Amazon has refused requests for interviews, and launch chronicler Jonathan McDowell says this flight is being treated with more secrecy than missions for US spy agencies.
China details resource-focused Moon mission. Speaking at IAC, officials from China’s space agency said it would launch an uncrewed lunar mission, Chang’e 8, around 2028 to experiment with technology to exploit resources on the moon. Ahead of that effort, China is expected to launch two missions to explore the Moon’s south Pole in 2025 and 2026.
Last week: What will bring Silicon Valley back to the space sector?
Last year: SpaceX’s Hubble plans revisits old fashioned ideas about exploration.
This was issue 197 of our newsletter. Hope your week is out of this world! Please send beams of light amplified by stimulated emission of radiation, tips, and informed opinions to [email protected].
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