The recent NASA Psyche mission successfully demonstrated the potential of lasers for transferring significantly more data using distant spacecraft than is possible with the radio waves in use today. Optical communication was successfully established over large distances by incoherently combining seven laser beams with kW-level output power. These lasers were bright enough to allow deep space optical communication (DSOC) over a distance of 1.5–2.5 astronomical units (220–370 million km) from earth. As an example, these distances would be typical of a future Mars mission. Additional improvements in power scaling or techniques like coherent combining will allow this range to increase even further in the future. Currently based on ground stations, potential space-ready fiber systems for relay stations or detector arrays could enhance data transfer and range even further.

High-power directed laser beams using ytterbium or erbium fiber lasers allow power levels of several tens of kW with a minimum divergence angle. Coherent beam combining offers additional potential for beam steering and ultrafast wavefront corrections to mitigate atmospheric effects when based on ground stations. Space-qualified high-power fiber components and beam combing systems that can be operated under harsh environmental conditions are a key technology in DSOC.

As a European supplier, FiberBridge Photonics has the capacity to contribute significantly to DSOC. Specializing in both space-qualified components and coherent beam combining technologies, we look forward to supporting the future of communication!