NASA Laser Communications Relay Demonstration: How to Use Lasers to Communicate Between Earth, Space

NASA is now relying on lasers to help create a new form of "communicating" with Earth. On Sunday, December 5, the space agency will launch the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD).

The United States Space Force Space Systems Command's Space Test Program 3 (STP-3) mission will launch LCRD, the agency's first end-to-end laser relay system. STP-3 will take out from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. At 4:04 a.m. EST, the two-hour launch window opens.

SciTechDaily said the public is invited to register for a virtual launch and to receive mission updates and activities through email. Virtual visitor materials, reminders about relevant possibilities, and a virtual guest passport stamp are all part of NASA's virtual guest program for LCRD. NASA Television, NASA App, and the agency's website will provide live coverage of the launch beginning at 3:30 a.m. EST.

Laser communications, often known as optical communications since they communicate information using light, have greater data rates than typical radio frequency systems, allowing for more data to be transmitted each transmission.

The LCRD will demonstrate laser communications between ground stations in Hawaii and California from space to ground. LCRD will receive and send data via an optical terminal that NASA will install on the International Space Station later in the voyage.

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NASA said infrared light, which is undetectable to the naked eye but present in objects like TV remotes and heat lamps, is used in laser communications.

The data is then packed into tight waves using infrared light, which travels across space to reach ground stations on Earth and offer data to people who need it. While this may appear to be a straightforward task, NASA claims that even a quarter of a degree of error in laser transmissions can result in a target being missed completely.

The LCRD will support missions in the "near-Earth area" once it is in geosynchronous orbit (22,000 miles above Earth). To begin, NASA said that the LCRD will test laser communication capabilities for two years in order to improve technology and gain information.

It will then be used in orbit for the first time in a mission scheduled to fly to the International Space Station in 2022.

Here's How Infrared Laser Light Works in Space

NASA will speed up data transmissions and make more discoveries by switching to a laser-based type of space communication. According to the organization, it will also necessitate less payload volume and reduce the strain on spacecraft power systems.

Officials estimate that lasers will be able to transmit 90 percent more data back to Earth than present radio frequency technologies.

"This technology demonstration could pave the way for the equivalent of high definition footage to be transmitted back to Earth the next time humans step foot on the Moon with NASA's Artemis missions," NASA said per WTSP.

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