Military Aerospace reports, “The European Space Agency (ESA) has completed a deep-space optical communications campaign by sending a laser signal to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Psyche spacecraft more than 186 million miles from Earth, using optical components provided by Altechna. Altechna, a global custom optics manufacturer based in Vilnius, Lithuania, supplied 3-inch mirrors and windows for the Ground Laser Transmitter system, which shaped and stabilized the laser beam. The components maintained beam quality under heavy power use and atmospheric interference.”
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Tag: Laser Link
Next X-37B Mission to Test Quantum Sensor and Laser Link Experiments
Breaking Defense reports, “The Defense Department’s secretive X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle will lift off again in late August, carrying a quantum sensor that could enable navigation when GPS is unavailable as well as a laser communication system, the Space Force announced today. The Aug. 21 mission will be the eighth for the mysterious space plane, which is operated by the Space Force in partnership with the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office.”
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