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.
By Theresa Hitchens, Published by Breaking Defense, 3 February 2022 "Undersea cable infrastructure is ripe for sabotage," said Karen Jones, one of the authors of the study. WASHINGTON: Some 430 undersea fiber optic cables carry 99% of intercontinental internet traffic, and those lifelines of global commerce are highly vulnerable to
By Nathan Strout, Published by C4ISRNET, 23 December 2021 WASHINGTON — The U.S. military wants to directly plug commercial imagery satellites into its forthcoming orbital networks, enabling soldiers in the field to access that data faster. The military has become increasingly interested in using satellite imagery to extend its situational
