Laser Communications Relay Demonstration

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3 Context: Recently, NASA launched its new Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) — the agency’s first-ever laser communications system from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA. The LCRD will help the agency test optical communication in space. Currently, most NASA spacecraft use radio frequency communications to send data. Optical communications will help increase the bandwidth 10 to 100 times more than radio frequency systems. LCRD will demonstrate all of the advantages of using laser systems and allow us to learn how to use them best operationally. With this capability further proven, we can start to implement laser communications on more missions, making....Read More