NASA’s TBIRD Mission Demonstrates 1.4TB Optical Downlink
By Rachel Jewett <https://www.satellitetoday.com/author/rachel-jewett/>
| December 6, 2022
https://www.satellitetoday.com/technology/2022/12/06/nasas-tbird-mission-demonstrates-1-4tb-optical-downlink/
*NASA*’s TBIRD mission recently achieved a record for optical
communications in space. The satellite downlinked 1.4 terabytes of data
over laser communications links in a single pass that lasted about five
minutes. The agency confirmed the demonstration Dec. 1
<https://twitter.com/NASALaserComm/status/1598392327734788097?s=20&t=M4qotiDisLKNMx53IdY4Rg>.
The TBIRD payload — TeraByte InfraRed Delivery — was built by built by
the MIT Lincoln Laboratory and integrated into NASA’s Pathfinder
Technology Demonstrator 3 Satellite (PTD-3), built by Terran Orbital.
This is part of NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program.
The TBIRD mission is testing laser communications in Low-Earth Orbit on
a small satellite, which NASA believes can substantially increase data
transport capabilities. NASA’s goal for the mission is to demonstrate a
downlink of 200 gigabits per second.
“Terran Orbital is grateful for NASA and MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s
partnership in the PTD-3 mission. We look forward to completing the next
record-breaking space-to-ground optical link – at 200 gigabits per
second – in the near future,” commented Marc Bell, CEO of Terran Orbital.
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