Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science

Lasercom satellite to transmit 200Gigabits per second

https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-build-a-space-communication-system-out-of-lasers/

He’s outfitting a small satellite, the size of a loaf of bread, with an infrared laser system capable of delivering 200 gigabits per second. The NASA-sponsored project, called Terabyte Infrared Delivery, is scheduled to launch in 2019. This system, they’re hoping, will be cheap enough for scientists working on a single project to purchase themselves. “Because the system is so small, it can be low cost,” says Robinson.


Not the best science writing... the article also said:

It also takes less power to send a laser signal than a radio one. The laser delivers information like a syringe, whereas radio sprays like a garden hose. The infrared transmitter at the moon needed less than 50 times the power a radio transmitter would use, says Cornwell.


The LLCD space terminal transmitted less than 1/50th the power an RF system might use- not " less than 50 times the power a radio transmitter would use"

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