On April 28, the US Space Agency easily doubled the record for the data transmission rate of an optical link between an orbiting satellite and the Earth. The satellite in question, PTD-3 (for Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 3), has actually reached a speed of 200 Gbps, the previous record from June 2022 was 100 Gbps. This feat was achieved using laser beam technology coupled with the TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) system, which enables ultra-fast connection. During a single six-minute pass over a ground station, it can transmit several terabytes of data to Earth.
200 Gbit/s can be achieved with laser technology
“Reaching 100 Gbps in June was groundbreaking, and now we’ve doubled that throughput,” said Beth Keer, TBIRD Mission Manager. “This ability will change the way we communicate in space. Imagine the potential of space science instruments if they can take full advantage of advances in detection speeds and sensitivities.” And if we add artificial intelligence processing of data to that, it opens up new horizons for space communications: “Laser communications is the missing link , which will enable the scientific discoveries of the future.”
Currently, radio waves are the most commonly used technology used by NASA for space communications. However, given the long-term goal of a presence on the moon and future missions to Mars, more effective communications are essential for smooth mission operations and effective science.
See more
Milestone reached! ✔️
The TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) payload transmitted 3.6 terabytes of data over laser links to Earth in a 6-minute voyage at a rate of 200 gigabits per second.
3.6 TB is a lot of data – worth almost 1 million songs! 🎶 https://t.co/tDzQo1Ldcq pic.twitter.com/jdlTE30pzp
— NASA Laser Communications (@NASALaserComm) May 15, 2023
The ultra-high-speed capabilities of laser communications (also known as optical communications) allow more data to be transmitted with each transmission from space. More information about the subjects studied by a scientific instrument means scientists on Earth can examine more data. This will facilitate the discoveries necessary for living and working in other worlds.
The size of two stacked cereal boxes, the PTD-3 satellite is an ideal satellite for testing communications technologies thanks to its reduced cost and size. The TBIRD payload it carries is no larger than a box of tissues. The device was launched into orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as part of SpaceX’s Transporter 5 mission. Thanks to the successful demonstration of TBIRD for laser communication, this technology promises to become a very practical tool for data transmission from space to earth. Future NASA missions will be able to incorporate this technology into their design.