TAMPA, Fla. — Sony has partnered with California’s Astro Digital to check laser communications from two small satellites, utilizing optical disc know-how the Japanese conglomerate pioneered for CD gamers.
The pair of spacecraft will likely be primarily based on Astro Digital’s Corvus satellite tv for pc platform and able to launch in 2026, the businesses mentioned in a quick Nov. 12 information launch.
Every satellite tv for pc would carry a Lasercom optical terminal from Sony House Communications Company (SSCC), the Californian subsidiary Sony shaped in 2022 to commercialize the know-how following checks between the Worldwide House Station and a floor station in Japan.
SSCC goals to check excessive data-rate optical hyperlinks from the satellites and the bottom, and likewise between one another in low Earth orbit (LEO).
Kyohei Iwamoto, SSCC’s president, mentioned the corporate goals to showcase a extra compact, lighter terminal that wants much less energy than different units available on the market, enabling smaller satellites to undertake high-speed laser communications as a substitute of counting on radio waves.
Whereas Astro Digital makes a speciality of constructing satellites as small as 10 kilograms, he informed SpaceNews that every demonstration spacecraft could be no smaller than 50 kilograms.
He additionally mentioned SSCC has already secured prospects for the terminals however didn’t elaborate.
A number of firms are chasing the fledgling marketplace for smaller and extra environment friendly laser communications, together with SpaceX, boosted by vital demand from the U.S. House Growth Company.
Laser know-how is seen as a key high-speed various for space-based communications as a surge in LEO satellites locations growing pressure on a finite quantity of radio spectrum.
In August, Mustafa Veziroglu stepped down as CEO of Mynaric as the corporate grappled with difficulties in ramping up manufacturing of its laser terminals to fulfill demand
