NASA laser comms demo achieves record data transmission from deep space

NASA laser comms demo achieves record data transmission from deep space
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 22, 2025

NASA's Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology has completed its two-year demonstration aboard the Psyche spacecraft, surpassing project expectations by reliably transmitting laser-encoded data from distances comparable to Mars. The system successfully carried out 65 passes, including a final signal exchange at 218 million miles.

"NASA is setting America on the path to Mars, and advancing laser communications technologies brings us one step closer to streaming high-definition video and delivering valuable data from the Martian surface faster than ever before," said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy.

Within a month of Psyche's 2023 launch, DSOC established a laser link with its onboard optical terminal, proving data transmission could be sustained across interplanetary distances. Over the full test period, the experiment delivered 13.6 terabits of data to Earth at rates comparable to home broadband, even under deep space conditions.

On Dec. 11, 2023, DSOC achieved a milestone by streaming ultra-high-definition video from 19 million miles away at 267 megabits per second. Another record came on Dec. 3, 2024, when it successfully downlinked Psyche data from 307 million miles, exceeding the average Earth-Mars distance.

The system relied on a flight laser transceiver aboard Psyche and two Earth-based ground stations. A 3-kilowatt uplink laser from JPL's Table Mountain Facility provided guidance for Psyche's return beam, while Caltech's Palomar Observatory telescope captured the faint photons needed for decoding.

Abi Biswas, DSOC technologist at JPL, noted: "We faced many challenges, from weather events that shuttered our ground stations to wildfires in Southern California that impacted our team members. But we persevered, and I am proud that our team embraced the weekly routine of optically transmitting and receiving data from Psyche."

Additional tests demonstrated hybrid communication by combining optical and radio frequency reception using a modified antenna at NASA's Deep Space Network Goldstone site. The project also tested optical signal arraying with telescopes at Palomar and Table Mountain to increase redundancy and improve weak-signal detection.

Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for NASA's SCaN program, emphasized that future astronauts will need to transmit high-resolution images and science data from the Moon and Mars: "Bolstering our capabilities of traditional radio frequency communications with the power and benefits of optical communications will allow NASA to meet these new requirements."

The demonstration was funded by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate and its Space Communications and Navigation program. JPL, managed by Caltech, led the DSOC project in partnership with Arizona State University and the University of California, Berkeley.