The U.S. and China continue to compete in space. (Image credit: Dragon Claws/iStock/Getty Images) By Evelyn Hart, Published by Indian Defence Reveiw, 19 December 2025 A Chinese satellite just outperformed Starlink—using a laser no stronger than a nightlight. Fired from 36,000 km above Earth, this silent tech breakthrough is shaking
The Pentagon is basing its future space-based architecture on optical communications technology. By Greg Hadley, Published by Air and Space Forces, 1 July 2025 The Space Force’s first planned satellite launch to begin a new missile warning constellation in medium-Earth orbit has slipped from late 2026 to spring 2027 as
The Pentagon is basing its future space-based architecture on optical communications technology. Credit: Steven Puetzer/Getty Images By Vivienne Machi, Published by Aviation Week, 25 March 2025 Today’s satellites collect more data than can be efficiently transmitted via traditional radio-frequency methods. As governments and companies build constellations with hundreds or even
By Georgina Torbet, Publsihed by The Verge, 4 December 2023 If we want to go to Mars, we need a better way to reliably relay messages through space. The solution could be optical communication, or lasers. It’s easy to take communication infrastructure for granted, right up until the moment you
To address demands, networks need to become three-dimensional in the future By Ameya Paleja, Published by Interesting Engineering, 16 October 2023 Scientists at the Xian Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences have successfully tested optical switching in space for the first time, South China Morning
The Space Development Agency will begin launching its first operational data transport satellites in 2024, part of the Space Force’s effort to build a space version of the internet. (Image: Northrop Grumman) By Theresa Hitchens, Published by Breaking Defense, 29 June 2023 The plan is to grant two contractors Other
The Space Development Agency will begin launching its Tranche 1 Transport Layer communications mesh network in 2024. (Image: Northrop Grumman) By Theresa Hitchen, Published by Breaking Defense, 26 October 2022 "Translator" payloads are necessary because many of today's commercial remote sensing providers do not, and will not, have the ability
By Theresa Hitchens, Published by Breaking Defense, 24 October 2022 "We may say that we don't want to, and we stand behind not doing, kinetic debris creating testing, but that does not mean that we should not have that capability," said Mitchell Institute Senior Fellow for Spacepower Studies Tim Ryan.
