{"id":17242,"date":"2023-12-14T20:14:15","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T12:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/amazon-reveals-a-secret-about-its-project-kuiper-satellites-theyre-using-laser-links\/"},"modified":"2023-12-14T20:14:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T12:14:15","slug":"amazon-reveals-a-secret-about-its-project-kuiper-satellites-theyre-using-laser-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/amazon-reveals-a-secret-about-its-project-kuiper-satellites-theyre-using-laser-links\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon reveals a secret about its Project Kuiper satellites: They\u2019re using laser links"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"355\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/231214-kuiper-630x355.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-803128\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/231214-kuiper-630x355.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/231214-kuiper-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/231214-kuiper.jpg 1207w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">This graphic shows how Project Kuiper would use optical signaling between satellites. (Amazon Illustration) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ending years of speculation, Amazon has acknowledged that its Project Kuiper satellites will use laser-based links to communicate with each other, and says the system has already been successfully tested in orbit.<\/p>\n<p>Such a system \u2014 known as optical inter-satellite links, or OISL \u2014 passes along data more quickly and efficiently than sending signals down from satellites to ground stations, through fiber-optic cables and then back up to other satellites.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith optical inter-satellite links across our satellite constellation, Project Kuiper will effectively operate as a mesh network in space,\u201d Rajeev Badyal, Project Kuiper\u2019s vice president of technology, said today in a news release. \u201cThis system is designed fully in-house to optimize for speed, cost and reliability, and the entire architecture has worked flawlessly from the very start.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amazon said the infrared laser system was tested using two prototype satellites that were launched into low Earth orbit in October. The system was able to maintain data transmission speeds of 100 gigabits per second (Gbps) over a distance of nearly 621 miles (1,000 kilometers) during test windows lasting an hour or more.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Amazon reported that the initial satellite tests recorded a \u201c100% success rate,\u201d but the company held back on mentioning the laser link system until today. <\/p>\n<p>Amazon said the OISL test validated the final component of Project Kuiper\u2019s communications infrastructure. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to be able to support these next-generation OISL capabilities on every Kuiper satellite from Day One,\u201d Badyal said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Amazon tests Project Kuiper satellite laser links\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oKD4YOAtMGA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">An Amazon video provides an inside look at Project Kuiper\u2019s tests of optical inter-satellite links.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Stan Shull, the founder of a Bellevue, Wash.-based space consulting firm called Alliance Velocity, said the successful OISL test is a big step forward in Project Kuiper\u2019s drive to launch its 3,236-satellite constellation and make broadband internet access available to tens of millions of people around the world who are underserved. Satellite production is scheduled to begin in earnest this month at a factory in Kirkland, Wash.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven that Kuiper is ramping up its mass production now to start full-scale deployment in 2024, this is a critical milestone,\u201d Shull told GeekWire in an email.&nbsp;\u201cPer their FCC license, Kuiper has to launch about half of their constellation, or about 1,600 satellites, by the summer of 2026.&nbsp;Had this demo mission not gone well, including validating the optical inter-satellite links, it could\u2019ve put that timeline at risk.&nbsp; Now, it seems like it\u2019s full speed ahead for Kuiper.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although Amazon had considered the existence of OISL system to be confidential information, today\u2019s big reveal doesn\u2019t exactly come as a shock to close observers. <\/p>\n<p>Four years ago, Project Kuiper\u2019s job postings signaled that it was planning to develop a 100-Gbps laser link system. And two months ago, telecom consultant Tim Farrar speculated that Amazon might not be releasing any pictures of its satellites because it didn\u2019t want to reveal the presence of laser communication hardware until it was ready to do so.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX\u2019s Starlink network, which has more than 2 million subscribers and a big head start on Project Kuiper, is already taking advantage of optical inter-satellite links.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarlink reports it already has more than 8,000 space lasers across its deployed constellation of more than 5,000 satellites, with the ability to enable data transfer of up to 100 Gbps on each link,\u201d Shull noted.&nbsp;\u201cThis sounds roughly comparable to the capability demonstrated by Kuiper.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/231214-operations-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-803187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/231214-operations-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/231214-operations-1260x709.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/231214-operations-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/231214-operations-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/231214-operations.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">Project Kuiper\u2019s mission operations team monitors satellite testing. (Amazon Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Other mega-constellation ventures \u2014 including Telesat and Rivada Space Networks \u2014 plan to use OISL systems to facilitate broadband data transmission. And such systems are built into the next-generation missile warning and tracking satellites that are being fielded by the U.S. Space Force\u2019s Space Development Agency.<\/p>\n<p>One of the reasons why inter-satellite links are so attractive is that they make it possible for satellites to relay data back and forth over wide swaths of the planet where no ground stations exist \u2014 for example, in the middle of the ocean. Another reason has to do with physics: Because light travels faster in a vacuum than it does through fiber-optic cable, there could be a slight speedup in signal transmission. <\/p>\n<p>But getting the technology right is a tricky proposition. \u201cIt requires precision optics and pointing \u2026 and complex orchestration at scale across the satellite constellation and ground stations,\u201d Shull said.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon says its satellites will be equipped with multiple optical terminals that can connect many satellites at once. That\u2019s an in-space capability that can\u2019t be demonstrated with just two satellites in orbit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll continue to test and improve the system as we deploy more satellites, but initial data from our testing indicates that our design will be able to maintain cross-links between multiple satellites at once,\u201d an Amazon spokesperson told GeekWire via email. \u201cThat test data \u2013 combined with our ability to leverage global AWS cloud infrastructure for network routing \u2013 gives us confidence in our ability to operate a next-generation mesh network across our fully deployed constellation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Resilient communication links are particularly important to government customers. Even before Amazon\u2019s first prototype satellites were deployed, NASA awarded $67 million to Kuiper Government Solutions, a division within Project Kuiper that focuses on serving public-sector customers, to demonstrate an in-space optical relay network for satellite communications.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmazon\u2019s optical mesh network will provide multiple paths to route data through space, creating resiliency and redundancy for customers who need to securely transport information around the world,\u201d said Ricky Freeman, vice president of Kuiper Government Solutions. \u201cThis is especially important for those looking to avoid communications architectures that can be intercepted or jammed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead, Shull expects to see more constellations taking advantage of lasers, for inter-satellite links and also for satellite-to-ground data transmission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not only for communication satellites,\u201d he said.&nbsp;\u201cWith the growing volume and value of remote sensing data from space, laser mesh networks help to ensure that important data insights are delivered back to Earth in a timely fashion.&nbsp; Amazon Kuiper is clearly one of the early leaders with its optical mesh network, and it\u2019s great to see this progress.&nbsp; This could be a game changer for both satellite communications and Earth observation going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This graphic shows how Project Kuiper would use optical signaling between satellites. (Amazon Illustration) Ending years of speculation, Amazon has acknowledged that its Project Kuiper satellites will use laser-based links to communicate with each other, and says the system has already been successfully tested in orbit. Such a system \u2014 known as optical inter-satellite links, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[275,1996,4525,962,20,4336,442],"class_list":["post-17242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amazon","tag-laser","tag-mesh-networking","tag-project-kuiper","tag-satellite","tag-satellite-broadband","tag-satellites"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}