Optical ground stations intercept satellite laser signals, enabling 1,000-times faster communications from space

The University of Western Australia’s Terranet, a network of optical ground stations specializing in high-speed air communications, has successfully picked up a laser signal from a German satellite in low Earth orbit. This breakthrough paves the way for a thousand-fold increase in the bandwidth of communication between space and Earth.

The TerraNet team, led by Associate Professor Sascha Shediwey of the UWA node at the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), received laser signals from OSIRISv1, a laser communications payload from the German Aviation Center Institute for Communications and Navigation (DLR ). OSIRISv1 is installed on the University of Stuttgart’s laptop flight satellite. The signals were detected using two of TerraNet’s optical ground stations during the satellite’s flybys last Thursday.

“This demonstration is an important first step in establishing a next-generation space-communications network across Western Australia.

Terranet ground stations use lasers instead of traditional wireless radio signals to transmit data between space satellites and users on Earth. Lasers can potentially transmit data at thousands of gigabits per second, because lasers operate at much higher frequencies than radio, so much more data can be collected per second.

Space-based wireless radio technology has been used for communication from space since the launch of the first Sputnik 1 satellite nearly 70 years ago, and the technology has remained relatively unchanged ever since. As the number of satellites in space increases, with each new satellite capable of generating more data, there is now a critical space bottleneck in getting data back to Earth.

Laser communication is perfectly suited to solve this problem, but the downside is that laser signals can be interrupted by clouds and rain. The Terranet team mitigates this downside by establishing a network of three ground stations spread across Western Australia. This means that if it is cloudy at one ground station location, the satellite can download data to another location with clear skies.

In addition, one of the two Terranet ground stations that received the satellite laser signal was built on the back of a custom-built Jeep truck. This means it can be quickly deployed to sites that require high-speed space connections, such as remote communities where traditional communications have been interrupted by natural disasters.

High-speed laser communications from space will revolutionize data transmission to Earth observation satellites, significantly enhance and secure military communications networks, and strengthen remote secure operations for sectors such as autonomous mining operations, as well as national disaster planning and response.

TerraNet supports multiple international space missions operating between Low Earth and Moon orbit, using both proven optical optical communications standards and more advanced optical technologies, including deep space communications, ultrahigh speed unified communications, quantum communications and optical stabilization and Time of installation.

The network includes a ground station at UWA, a second ground station at Mingnew Space Base, 300 km north of Perth, and an orbiting ground station to be commissioned at the European Space Agency’s New Norcia facility.

Provided by the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research