Australian researchers are working on a new “super-fast laser” technology to communicate with spacecraft, which might be used in the first human voyage to the moon in almost 50 years, according to the Associated Press.
The optical technology employed by the $6.5 TeraNet project, according to scientists, will be 1000 times faster than the radio waves currently utilized for space communication.
Commercial Optical Communications Network
The network, scheduled for completion in 2026, will feature a mobile station initially stationed at New Norcia, two stationary ground stations at the University of Western Australia in Perth, and the town of Mingenew, in the state of Western Australia’s middle west.
Data transport to and from satellites orbiting the planet will be the main objective of one of Australia’s first commercial optical communications networks.
- Australian researchers develop super-fast laser technology for lunar voyages.
- TeraNet project uses optical technology 1000 times faster than current radio waves.
- Australia’s first commercial optical communications network focuses on satellite data transport.
However, the Artemis II mission of NASA in 2024 may make use of its capability for high-speed communication in deep space.
It will carry the first woman and the first person of color to the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972.
