A new laser-powered project launched in the Western state of Australia could completely change global communication. This project aims to increase data transmissions from space to Earth by a thousand times. Two optical ground stations that successfully received laser signals sent from Germany have taken a promising step for future space communication.
How will new laser technology revolutionize communications?
The TeraNet project is led by astrophotonics scientist Sascha Schediwy from the University of Western Australia and funded by the Australian Space Agency. The main goal of the project is to contribute to Australia’s next generation communications infrastructure for space exploration.
Since the launch of Sputnik I in 1957, satellites have communicated via radio waves. However, the low frequencies of radio waves limit the capacity to transmit data, and in recent years this has become insufficient to meet demand.
Laser technology could be the solution to this problem. Communication using infrared laser beams offers 1,000 times more bandwidth than current radio waves. The technology will enable faster data transmissions from space to Earth, allowing high-quality images, such as 4K video footage from lunar landings, to be shared instantly.
Laser communication offers more focused signals than radio waves, eliminating problems such as signal interference and interference. Optical signals can be focused directly on a specific user, which is a huge advantage, especially for large data transfers. But lasers have a disadvantage: they can be easily blocked by clouds. For this reason, ground stations are being set up in various locations across Western Australia to minimize the effects of weather conditions.
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These stations, located in different locations such as Perth and Mingenew, ensure that when clouds form on one, the other is activated. In addition, a mobile ground station has been added to the project in case both of these stations are ineffective. The ground station can be moved to different coordinates to get the best signal when needed.
This laser-assisted communication network will not be limited to Western Australia. The team aims to establish a wider network of optical ground stations in collaboration with the east coast of Australia and New Zealand.
