Space lasers, something we only saw in Star Trek or Star Wars movies, have become a real tool for building technology that works beyond our atmosphere.
NASA has used space lasers to study plankton, there are plans to destroy space debris and now, a satellite network courtesy of Amazon.
The company has announced that its Kuiper Project has expanded its capabilities of optical inter-satellite links (OISL) to create a significant mesh network of high-speed cross-link laser connections. This technology could enable faster data transmission even to the most remote places on Earth.
A very difficult and innovative project for satellite internet
In October, Amazon launched two prototype satellites and, a month later, reported the success of the tests: both sent and retrieved data at speeds of up to 100 gigabits per second.
In order to successfully use OISL, the laser links had to maintain contact at a distance of up to 2,600 km and, at the same time, face spacecraft moving at a speed of 20,500 km per hour. Additionally, Amazon had to minimize light dispersion to maintain the signal and take into account the additional dynamics of all these moving parts, something that, according to the company, has been successfully achieved.
Amazon also claims that the mesh network moves data 30% faster than terrestrial fiber optic cables. Basically, anyone from a cruise ship passenger to a multi-day hiker should be able to get a connection if this is successful.
The Kuiper project started in 2019, but has seen a real boost in recent months. With these successful tests completed, Amazon claims that the Kuiper Project is starting satellite production, with a “large-scale deployment” set to begin in the first half of 2024.
