NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Is 'Space-Bound', Here’s Why It's Important

NASA’s laser technology will make space communications many times faster.

By Edited by Gadgets 360 Newsdesk | Updated: 8 December 2021 14:27 IST

NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Is 'Space-Bound', Here’s Why It's Important

Photo Credit: Instagram/ NASA

NASA's LCRD was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

Highlights

NASA says LCRD will increase bandwidth for communicating data
LCRD will help in reducing size, weight, and power requirements
LCRD is part of NASA's Space Test Program 3 mission

NASA's new laser technology is finally space-bound. After much anticipation and a two-year delay, the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) was launched today (December 8) at 5:19am EST. According to NASA's social media updates, the LCRD was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on an Atlas V rocket of the United Launch Alliance. NASA also explained why this new technology was important. It said, "LCRD will showcase the unique capabilities of optical communications which increases bandwidth for communicating data in space while reducing size, weight, and power requirements."

LCRD is part of the Space Test Program 3 mission, which is a joint venture between the US Space Force and NASA. “This new way of communicating with spacecraft could expand the possibilities of what we could learn from future missions across the solar system,” NASA wrote on Instagram.

This laser communications technology is also known as optical communications as it uses infrared light to send information. According to NASA, this technology provides “higher data rates than traditional radio frequency systems.” The higher data rates will allow the space agency to send more data in each transmission, which makes it a faster way of space communication.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

LCRD will start its operations in a geosynchronous orbit about 22,000 miles above Earth. From there, it will establish space-to-ground laser communications with ground stations based in Hawaii and California. Scientists have further plans for laser communications technology. The caption on the Instagram post read, “Later in its mission, LCRD will receive and transmit data from an optical terminal that we will place on the International Space Station.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NASA (@nasa)

A few days ago, NASA had stated that the technology will allow them to send 10-100 times more data as compared to radio frequencies. It will also prevent overcrowding of the radio frequency spectrum, which has happened over the past few decades. This problem increased as constellations of satellites in the low Earth orbits increased rapidly.

NASA Postpones Astronaut Moon Landing to 2025 at Earliest

In a previous announcement, NASA was certain that the delay of the mission wouldn't have too many adverse effects. In fact, investigators believed that the LCRD is perfectly scheduled to benefit the Artemis manned Moon-landing mission, scheduled for 2025.

Will Snapdragon's new 2022 chips make it more prominent as a brand? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.