“Internet in Space” Will Transform the Satellite Imagery Industry

Re:“Internet in Space” Will Transform the Satellite Imagery ... by JumpCrisscross on Sunday January 01, 2023 @04:09PM (#34210909)

> way to steer laser beams in a solid state way?

Yes, MEMs and waveguides.

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Re:“Internet in Space” Will Transform the Satellite Imagery ... by georgeg23 on Sunday January 01, 2023 @04:16PM (#34211000)

Unfortunately not ready for prime time yet, optical beamforming today is only a few degrees steerable angle and single beam. Also low power and poorly focused.

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Re:“Internet in Space” Will Transform the Satellite Imagery ... by JumpCrisscross on Sunday January 01, 2023 @04:26PM (#34211116)

> not ready for prime time yet

Totally agree. But the frontier is advancing thanks to LiDAR. And in the meantime, the advantages of laser relay and downlink are vast enough to make mechanical actuation worth it. Particularly for unboosted birds in LEO.

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Re:“Internet in Space” Will Transform the Satellite Imagery ... by georgeg23 on Sunday January 01, 2023 @04:43PM (#34211287)

Curious how LiDAR tech could be used for high speed communication?

At best that is time-multiplexing, not multiple parallel beams of information?

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Re:“Internet in Space” Will Transform the Satellite Imagery ... by JumpCrisscross on Sunday January 01, 2023 @05:07PM (#34211541)

> Curious how LiDAR tech could be used for high speed communication?

Lasers don’t care if they’re carrying data out or on return. The same optics being pursued for LiDAR have applications in communications. Solid-state waveguides and MEMS being examples.

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