Laser technology being designed for the next-generation U.S. military communications satellite has passed a recent laboratory test.
The "lasercomm" technology produced data speeds up to 40 gigabits per second, or Gbps, in the test carried out recently at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Lasercomm is slated for use in the TSAT, or Transformational Satellite Communications System, which is being developed to provide high-speed and secure Internet Protocol networking to be used by military and intelligence agencies.
The system employs terminals that are smaller and cheaper than radios; however, it requires the capability to connect these terminals with a satellite thousands of miles away using a thin laser beam to carry the data.
Northrop Grumman's satellite team in Los Angeles County said in a statement that the "milestone moves the team's TSAT efforts a major step forward, providing high confidence in this critical technology."
Northrop is part of a team that includes Lockheed Martin and is competing for the TSAT contract to be awarded late this year.
The companies said the test dubbed Lasercomm Test 2 was run last month at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory. It was actually the third test of lasercomm performed on the lab's Optical Standards Validation Suite test bed.
Engineers used the test to evaluate pointing, tracking, and communication performance as well as the interoperability of the Northrop Grumman brassboard lasercomm terminal with the test bed at data rates ranging from 2.5 Gbps to 40 Gbps. |