On Fri, 2 Feb 2024 03:33:34 -0000 (UTC), David Lesher
<
wb8foz@panix.com> wrote:
Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> writes:
On Sun, 31 Dec 2023 05:49:41 GMT, Jan Panteltje <alien@comet.invalid> >>wrote:
A cat video highlighted a big year for lasers in space
NASA has invested more than $700 million in testing laser communications in space.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/a-cat-video-highlighted-a-big-year-for-lasers-in-space/
Perhaps NASA should just give the project and the money to SpaceX,
which already has a working space laser mesh communications system.
Over what distance?
About 36,000 km (22,000 miles), ground to the LCRD in geosynchronous
orbit. Test bandwidth is 1.244 Gigabits/sec bidirectional. Average
power is 0.5 watts. LCDR was launched on Dec 7, 2021.
"Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD)" <
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_Communications_Relay_Demonstration>
"Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) Overview" (2021) <
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/tech-demo-missions-program/laser-communications-relay-demonstration-lcrd-overview/>
"Update on NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Project"
(2018)
<
https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/pdf/10.2514/6.2018-2395>
"NASA’s Laser Communications Relay: A Year of Experimentation" <
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/tech-demonstration/nasas-laser-communications-relay-a-year-of-experimentation/>
"Located in geosynchronous orbit 22,000 miles above Earth, LCRD is
currently acting as an experiment platform for NASA, other government
agencies, academia, and commercial companies to test laser
communications capabilities."
More:
<
https://www.google.com/search?q=lcrd>
I once found the link budget calculations, but now I can't find them.
Try your luck: <
https://www.google.com/search?q=%22LCRD%22+link+budget&tbm=isch>
--
Jeff Liebermann
jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)