Optical Wireless Communication is Already a Mature Technology!? What are the Prospects for Successful NASA Projects and Commercialization? [Latest Trends in Space Business: KaBSC & ICSSC]
On September 24–27, 2024, the 29th Ka and Broadband Space Communications Conference (KaBSC) and the 41st International Communications Satellite Systems Conference (ICSSC ) were held in Seattle. Warpspace’s Group CSO and U.S. CEO of Warpspace, Mr. Mori, gave a presentation on our service, WarpHub InterSat, at the 20th BroadSky Workshop, which attracted a great deal of interest. In this article, I report on Mori’s observations and experiences at the workshop.
Growing Interest in Optical Communications
This year, optical communications sessions were held both at the Ka and Broadband Space Communications Conference (KaBSC) and the 41st International Communications Satellite Systems Conference (ICSSC).
In particular, the “BroadSky Workshop” organized by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan introduced the latest in optical communications-based technology. Mori, CSO of Warpspace, gave a presentation on the company’s WarpHub InterSat and the multi-protocol modems required for optical communications, demonstrating the new possibilities of optical communications in the space field. During the Q&A session that followed the presentation, there were many basic questions about optical communications, and it was clear that interest in this new field is growing.
Mori also said,
“I think this field will attract even more attention in the future.”
Maturation of Optical Communication Technology and Prospects for Commercialization
Government research and space agencies were prominent participants at this year’s conference, and the progress of NASA’s optical communications projects was a particular topic of discussion. Leaders of major NASA projects gathered at the venue to share their achievements and future prospects. Representative projects include the following (*1,2,3):
- Demonstration of optical communication on the ISS・Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) project
- Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC), an optical communications terminal onboard the Saiki spacecraft, to demonstrate optical communications in deep space
- Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System (O2O) onboard the Orion spacecraft to demonstrate optical communications on manned space missions
- TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) project, a small satellite-based optical communications demonstration satellite
TBIRD was a demonstration mission of optical communication technology launched by NASA in May 2022, demonstrating unparalleled data communication capabilities despite its small 6U satellite payload. The mission achieved the highest optical communication speed in NASA history at 200 gigabits per second, successfully transmitting terabytes of data to the ground in a fraction of the time. And surprisingly, TBIRD is only about the size of a box of tissues.
Meanwhile, DSOC onboard Saiki will test high-bandwidth communications with Earth during its first two years on its way to the metal-rich asteroid Psyche. Using a near-infrared laser, Psyche transmitted data at 267 Mbps to the Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory in California from about 31 million kilometers (0.2 AU) away, about 80 times the distance of the Earth month. DSOC plans to transmit data over a distance of about 390 million kilometers (about 2.2 AU) in the future(*4).
All of these projects were successfully carried out with a small number of people, achieving a stable development process that would have been difficult for the private sector.
Mori said,
“Because NASA can focus on one project in small quantities, we don’t have to worry about manufacturing costs or the simultaneous development of multiple products, but even so, the significance of the success of all these projects is significant. With the accomplishments of the past three to five years, NASA now considers inter-satellite optical communications technology to be a mature technology (Mature Technology).”
As a result, budgets for new research and development may be reduced, but applications to existing space missions are expected to accelerate. For example, there will be more opportunities for optical communication modules to be used as subsystems in other missions.
In addition, as such technology matures, technology transfer to the private sector and outsourcing is expected to increase. This will bring new business opportunities for optical communication technology and accelerate private-sector-led commercial services. In particular, as major telecommunications companies focus on applications in this field, optical communication technology is expected to become even more widespread, contributing to the development of the industry as a whole.
This conference reaffirmed that optical communications technology is a key element in the future of space communications, and as NASA’s project demonstrates, it is already established as a reliable technology. Further development of the space and telecommunications industries is expected as these technologies are put to practical use and transferred to the private sector.
References
(*1 [ NASA ] What’s Next: The Future of NASA’s Laser Communications)
(*2 [ NASA JPL ] Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC))
(*3 [ IEEE ] NASA’s optical communications program for 2017 and beyond)
(*4［NASA JPL］5 Things to Know About NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications）
( Writer: Junichiro Nakazawa )
