About ten years ago, on February 21, 2008, a government cooperation between the USA and Germany wrote a new chapter in the history of communications with the establishment of a laser link between two satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The German radar satellite TerraSAR-X and the US defense satellite NFIRE of the US Missile Defense Agency, both equipped with Laser Communication Terminals (LCT) from Tesat-Spacecom GmbH & Co. KG, established the first successful and stable laser orbital link that day here. Tesat-Spacecom GmbH & Co. KG is located in Backnang.
The anniversary terminal "LCT 135" enables data and information to be transmitted at up to 1.8 Gbit/s. over a distance of up to 80,000 km, quickly, securely and with absolutely no interference - even if the two satellites move away from each other on different orbits at absolute speeds of around 30,000 km/h.
Tesat's LCTs are the key technology behind Airbus' SpaceDataHighway, which enables near real-time transmission of data to anywhere in the world. This system of two geostationary satellites transmits data between LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites, spacecraft, airborne platforms or fixed ground stations. In this way, Tesat's technology enables the delivery of near real-time data to support time-sensitive and data-intensive applications for missions by security organizations around the world, eg for emergency response after natural disasters. Another example application is to support global maritime surveillance activities such as in Airbus' forthcoming Pléiades Neo Constellation.
Tesat offers suitable laser communication terminals for a variety of applications. The SpaceDataHighway is the LCT135, which transmits up to 1.8 gigabits per second securely, quickly and reliably over distances of up to 80,000 kilometers. With this geostationary backbone, Tesat technology enables worldwide data transmission in almost real time.
For Low-Earth Orbits (LEO) applications, there is the SmartLCT, which can be deployed on smaller, lighter satellites with large weight and size savings. Data can be transmitted over distances of up to 45,000 kilometers at a high data rate of up to 1.8 gigabits per second. The SmartLCT only about 22 kilograms.
Tesat currently operates eight laser communications terminals in space - two on geostationary satellites (EDRS-A and -C) on Airbus' SpaceDataHighway and six on LEO satellites. A third geostationary satellite (EDRS-A and -C) will follow to enable global communications. A total of eight more satellites are in production. Thanks to the satellite constellation and laser technology, the information is transmitted to Earth in no more than 15 minutes.
One of the key benefits of satellite communications for security organizations is "jamming resistance". The communication beam is so narrow at around 800 m that an opponent has to be in exactly this small area in order to be able to influence it. And even then, the usual security and encryption features are still active.
As part of the "Laser Communication Coalition", the next step will be to connect Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to this technology. The SatCom device onboard the UAV will be replaced with a new airborne terminal replacing the Ku-band. The transmission will be significantly faster and with a higher bandwidth. As part of this coalition, the drones will be deployed and integrated by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI). The status of this project is currently a proof of concept for operation.
One of the users for this laser communication in space is currently France. Many other countries are showing interest. Only Germany seems hesitant, even though the technology was developed here. Overall, however, it can be stated that the importance of satellite communication for military operations will increase in the future. The decisive points in SatCom technology are the large data rate combined with high speed and the lower susceptibility to interference from the opponent's jamming. In almost all larger countries there are plans for new communications satellites.
Andre Forkert
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