The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully established a laser optical link with an experience carried out on the Psyche probe of NASA. The latter is currently 268 million kilometers from the earth.
On July 7, a powerful laser beam was directed to the NASA space probe from the Kryonéri Observatory, near Athens. The bundle did not contain data, but it was oriented with such precision that the experience aboard the psyche was able to capture it and send a return to earth signal.
An important step for Europe which thus established its first optical communication with deep space.
According to ESA, the return signal was received by the Mont Chelmos observatory, located at the top of a mountain 37 kilometers away: the laser receiver on the ground consists of a sophisticated optical bench so sensitive that it can detect unique photons!
At the speed of light, this triangular journey between the two high precision optical terrestrial stations and the cosmos therefore lasted some 30 minutes.
![The observatories of Helmos and Kryoneri in Greece, separated by 37 kilometers. The laser signal has traveled 536 million kilometers - 268 on the outward journey - between the two instruments and the psyche space probe. At the speed of light, this journey therefore took almost 30 minutes. [ESA]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== "The observatories of Helmos and Kryoneri in Greece, separated by 37 kilometers. The laser signal has traveled 536 million kilometers - 268 on the outward journey - between the two instruments and the psyche space probe. At the speed of light, this journey therefore took almost 30 minutes. [ESA]")
“This required the control of two major technical challenges,” said Sinda Mejri, project manager at the ESA optical reception station, quoted in a statement on Monday.
“On the one hand, it was a question of developing a laser powerful enough to precisely reach a very distant spacecraft, and on the other hand to build a receiver sufficiently sensitive to detect a very low return signal – sometimes only a few photons – after a trip of several hundred million kilometers”.
In order to ensure safety during laser transmissions, sections of Greek airspace have been temporarily closed.
The probe Psyche is on the way to the asteroid of the same name, located 3.6 billion kilometers of the earth in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It should reach it in 2029.
Higher transmission rate
In December 2023, NASA had already tested an ultra -modern laser communication system: a 15 -second video From the cat of a collaborator of the American space agency had been sent by laser from the space probe to the earth. However, the probe was at that time only 31 million kilometers from the earth.
Spatial missions traditionally use radio communication to send and receive data, but laser communication allows flows of ten to a hundred times higher. The demonstration that has just been made via terrestrial stations in Greece gives an overview of the future of communication in space, writes ESA.
The combination of optical communication with current radiofrequency systems is essential for to transmit The ever -increasing amount of space missions data.
The European Space Agency plans to establish four other links with the psyche probe during the summer (Read box).
Sjaq and ATS
