Modern Communication and Safety Systems for NASA have Launched into Space

Jan, 2022 - By SMI

NASA has launched the LCRD system to improve communication and safety for upcoming space missions.

NASA has developed a new laser-based communication technology. This latest system is being placed in space. After a delay of almost two years in the original mission time, the LCRD or Laser Communication Relay Demonstration was launched on December 8th. NASA posted on their social media that the LCRD had been released on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The research and development team have explained the importance of this technology for upcoming missions in space. This technology is one of the stages of Space Test Program 3. This mission is a joint project between NASA and the U.S. Space Force.

The research team has posted that the LCRD will provide some outstanding abilities in visual-optical communications, which increases the bandwidth of data transfer in space, while decreasing the required weight, size, and power of the system. According to a NASA Instagram post, this is a modern technique of communication between satellites and research stations on Earth. This could widen the area of opportunity for future research studies and missions across the solar system.

The LCRD technology consists of an updated version of optical communication technology that utilizes infrared lasers for data transfer. NASA has stated that this system allows technology to get higher data rates than standard radio-frequency. These high data rates will allow space agencies to transfer much more data with every transmission. This makes space communication much faster.

This system will be placed approximately 22,000 miles above the Earth. After reaching that position, the system will start its routine operation of data transfer. From its position, the LCRD will set up the ground-to-space laser communication system with control stations located in Hawaii and California. The research team will expand their control trajectory after establishing a convenient and safe data link between them. The LCRD has been set to assist the moon landing mission, scheduled for 2025.