First Bidirectional Optical Inter-orbit Comm., Between a Japanese and USA satellite Options

[ljk4-1]

"Toward the Era of Optical Communication in Space"

Success of the Optical Inter-orbit Communication Experiment
between
the Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering
Test Satellite "Kirari" (OICETS) and
the Advanced Relay and Technology Mission (ARTEMIS)

December 9, 2005

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

On December 9, 2005 (Japan Standard Time, JST), the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the European Space Agency (ESA)
succeeded in a bidirectional optical inter-orbit communication
experiment using a laser beam between the Optical Inter-orbit
Communications Engineering Test Satellite "Kirari" (OICETS) and
the Advanced Relay and Technology Mission (ARTEMIS) of the ESA.

This is the first bidirectional optical inter-orbit communication in
the world.

The success of this experiment has made it possible for us to acquire
enabling technology mainly for on-orbit laser beam acquisition and
tracking technology. Also it enables us to collect data for improving
transmission speed and volume, and for making onboard communication
equipment smaller and lighter, which are essential for a future data
relay satellite. In addition, we were able to obtain technology for
future international mutual operations through international
cooperation with ESA.

Optical inter-orbit communication is a method for satellites that are
moving several kilometers per second in respective orbits to transmit
and receive laser beams. The distance between them can be as far as
about 40,000 kilometers. This inter-orbit communication using laser
beams is a highly advanced technology that can be described like
"hitting the eye of a needle placed on top of the Mt. Fuji from
Tokyo Station." This communication method has a lot of advantages.
For example, communication can be more stable because, unlike radio
waves, laser beams do not cause interference. Also, onboard equipment
can be smaller and lighter, but transmission speed is higher, and
large volume data can be smoothly exchanged.

Kirari's optical inter-orbit communication technology is expected to
be an essential technology for supporting various future space
activities including global data acquisition by an earth observation
satellite as a communication method between a low earth orbit
satellite and a data relay satellite in geostationary orbit. We will
continue to verify enabling technologies and to carry out functional
verification in the space environment.

We would like to express our appreciation to the ESA, which operates
the ARTEMIS, for its cooperation with the experiment.

[Kirari (OICETS) Video (Sorry, Japanese only)]

http://www.jaxa.jp/missions/projects/sat/t...ts/index_e.html


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Publisher : Public Affairs Department
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Marunouchi Kitaguchi Building,
1-6-5, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8260
Japan
TEL:+81-3-6266-6400

JAXA WEB SITE :

http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html

[The Messenger]

So now satellites are winking at each other. What happens if they get preoccupied, and start ignoring us?

[ljk4-1]

So now satellites are winking at each other.  What happens if they get preoccupied, and start ignoring us?

Well, whatever they start to do, we are going to have to respect their rights:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedire...sID=5097&m=7610

[Rakhir]

ljk4-1,

a little mistake in the description of your thread.
Artemis is not a USA satellite but a ESA satellite.

[ljk4-1]

Successful optical data relay link between OICETS and Artemis

The first bi-directional optical link between KIRARI, the Japanese satellite officially called OICETS (which stands for "Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite"), and ESA's Artemis was made on Friday 9 December at 02:05 UTC.

Full story:

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMIJVVLWFE_index_0.html

[um3k]

Is it a coincidence that OICETS can easily be pronounced as "oh-I-see-it(s)?"

[ljk4-1]

MIT light detector may speed up interplanetary communications

March 20, 2006

MIT researchers have developed a tiny light detector that may allow for super-fast broadband communications over interplanetary distances. Currently, even still images from other planets are difficult to retrieve.

"It can take hours with the existing wireless radio frequency technology to get useful scientific information back from Mars to Earth. But an optical link can do that thousands of times faster," said Karl Berggren, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS).

Berggren, who is also affiliated with the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), developed the detector with colleagues from the RLE, Lincoln Laboratory and Moscow State Pedagogical University.

The new detector improves the detection efficiency to 57 percent at a wavelength of 1,550 nanometers (billionths of a meter), the same wavelength used by optical fibers that carry broadband signals to offices and homes today. That's nearly three times the current detector efficiency of 20 percent.

The result will be real-time collection of large amounts of data from space. The work may ultimately permit the transmission of color video between astronauts or equipment in outer space and scientists on Earth.

Full article here:

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/nanowire.html

[ljk4-1]

*** JAXA MAIL SERVICE ***
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Successful Optical Communication Experiment
between the NICT Optical Ground Station and
the Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite
"Kirari (OICETS)"

April 7, 2006

National Institute of Information and
Communications Technology (NICT)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

The National Institute of Information and Communication Technology
(NICT, President Makoto Nagao) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency (JAXA, President Keiji Tachikawa) carried out optical
communication experiments between March 22 and 31, 2006 (Japan
Standard Time, JST) using laser beams between the Optical Inter-orbit
Communications Engineering Test Satellite "Kirari (OICETS)" of JAXA
orbiting at an altitude of about 600 km and the optical ground station
of NICT in Koganei, Tokyo. The experiments were successfully
performed on March 31. This is the first successful optical
communication experiment in the world that connected a low earth orbit
satellite and a ground station(*).

Optical communications between a low earth orbit satellite like
"Kirari" and a ground station require highly sophisticated technology
because the satellite has to keep sending laser beams accurately to
the ground station while moving at a very high speed although the
optical reception level fluctuates remarkably due to atmospheric
attenuation and flickers. Therefore, the success of the experiment
proves the quality of Japanese technology in the area of optical
inter-orbit communication equipment and accurate satellite acquisition
and tracking.

The "Kirari" will continue communication experiments with optical
ground stations including NICT and German Space Agency (DLR) stations
in addition to optical inter-orbit experiments with the Advanced Relay
and Technology Mission (ARTEMIS) of the European Space Agency (ESA) to
verify the performance of the optical inter-orbit communication
equipment in a space environment as well as to evaluate the influence
of the atmosphere.

* There are some previous examples of successful optical communication
experiments between a geostationary satellite and a ground station
including optical communications between the optical terminal
developed by NICT aboard JAXA Engineering Test Satellite VI "Kiku #6
(ETS-VI)" and the NICT optical ground station, and between the ARTEMIS
and the ESA optical ground station.

Supplementary Information: NICT Optical Ground Station Experiments

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2006/04/20060407_kirari_e.html#at01

[Reference document]

Outline of the Laser Communication Experiment between Satellite and
Ground Station

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2006/04/20060407_kirari_e.html#at02

[Video: Satellite acquisition and tracking of the optical ground
communication experiment] (written in Japanese)

http://www3.nict.go.jp/w/w122/ogs/video.html


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Publisher : Public Affairs Department
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Marunouchi Kitaguchi Building,
1-6-5, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8260
Japan
TEL:+81-3-6266-6400

JAXA WEB SITE :

http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html

[ljk4-1]

*** JAXA MAIL SERVICE ***

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Success with Optical Communication Experiment between
the Optical Inter-orbit Communication Engineering Test Satellite
"Kirari" (OICETS) and the Optical Ground Station
at German Aerospace Center (DLR)

June 9, 2006 (JST)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully carried out
an optical communication experiment using laser beams between its
Optical Inter-orbit Communication Engineering Test Satellite "Kirari"
(OICETS), at an altitude of about 600 km, and the optical ground
station "OGS-OP" (Optical Ground Station Oberpfaffenhofen) of the
German Aerospace Center (Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fur Luft- und
Raumfahrt, DLR, in Wessling, Bayern) at 10:13 a.m. on June 7, 2006
(Japan Standard Time, JST). JAXA and DLR confirmed that optical
communication (downlink from the "Kirari") was successfully
performed for 3 minutes.

The "Kirari" has already performed a bi-directional optical
communication experiment successfully with the optical ground station
of the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology
(NICT) last March. However, the DLR optical ground station is unique
as it is a mobile station. Therefore, the success this time indicates
the possibility of establishing a flexible optical communication
network with a satellite and a mobile optical ground station.

The "Kirari" is scheduled to continue experiments including an optical
communication test with an optical ground station and an inter-orbit
optical communication test with the Advanced Relay and Technology
Mission (ARTEMIS) of the European Space Agency (ESA) to acquire
statistical data.

[Supplementary Information: Outline of the DRL Optical Ground Station]

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2006/06/20060609_kirari_e.html#at01

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Publisher : Public Affairs Department
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Marunouchi Kitaguchi Building,
1-6-5, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8260
Japan
TEL:+81-3-6266-6400

JAXA WEB SITE :

http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html