Scientific instruments used in space missions increasingly require higher communication rates to transmit gathered data back to Earth or to support high-data-rate applications, like high-definition video streams. Optical communications—also referred to as “lasercom”—is an emerging technology where data is sent via laser beams.
Read: NASA’s First Optical Communication Experiment
Once deployed, the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) will be conducting transmission tests for a period of nearly three months, with the possibility of a longer mission.
The Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) instrument is hoisted onto a shipping pallet for transfer to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From there it will launch to the International Space Station.
Optical PAyload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) Flight System hardware.
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense
