Some Doubt Optical Commercial Satcom 'Ready for Prime Time'
In use for years by civil space agencies and getting interest from the earth observation industry, there's no clear picture of how soon a commercial rollout of optical satellite communications might occur. Industry participants see that imminent but industry watchers are more conservative. One aspect that makes the field attractive is the lack of FCC or ITU regulation, which is far off, we were told. "These are serious people and serious investors making this happen; they wouldn't be engaged if this was speculative," said Aerospace Vice President-Space Systems Frank Slazer.
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There's sizable interest in optical, with the satellite industry sure to adopt the technology, but "we're still at fairly early stages" before that happens, said Northern Sky Research analyst Carolyn Belle. She said the technology still needs developing, and the traditionally risk-averse satellite industry will need to "see heritage on a given technology before putting it on a satellite. You don't want to go all-in on a technology that might not be totally proven yet." Belle said there's much satellite industry interest in optical inter-satellite links (ISL) and a number of systems have been designed around that. ISLs are the chief market today, agreed Robert Brumley, CEO of Laser Light Communications, which is working on a global optical network of satellites and fiber that plans to compete with terrestrial cable.
A big hurdle for wider government and commercial use has been weather interference and the need to develop architectures that are resilient to that form of signal degradation, said Kevin Kelly, CEO of LGS Innovations, which makes optical amplifiers, modems, terminals and end-to-end systems for optical communications systems. "I feel we're there; this is a technology ready for prime time," he said. He said years of R&D by agencies like NASA and the Air Force helped refine the laser pointing systems and other tech and demonstrate its viability to the commercial market. Eventually, it will be the data backbone for satellites, given increasing spectrum crunches, though that transition will take years due to lifespans of satellites, he said. Optical, like high-frequency RF, also is vulnerable to atmospheric conditions, and requires a variety of ground sites in case one is covered by clouds, Belle said, noting weather issues are manageable: "It's just a question of how you do that."
The FCC International Bureau, in 1999 authorization of the proposed Teledesic constellation, said since optical ISLs "do not involve wire or radio frequency transmissions, the Commission does not have jurisdiction over the use of optical ISLs." That's been FCC policy since, said an optical satellite industry executive, adding there isn't an obvious reason for the agency to get into licensing it now because of the lack of interference and because ITU jurisdiction stops at about 600 GHz. The FAA set standards based on aperture size and power limits, for protecting pilots' eyesight, the executive said. The FCC didn't comment.
"I look forward to the day" when optical satcom is regulated because it will indicate a high enough density of use that regulation becomes needed, said BridgeSat CEO Barry Matsumori. He said BridgeSat and some other optical communications companies are working on prototype regulations in advance “as we’re thinking well ahead.”
Belle said there could be deployments in three to five years on some satellites as a type of technology demonstration. She said low earth orbit smallsats doing earth observation and science missions are likely the earliest adopters.
BridgeSat sees earth observation (EO) LEO as an “immediate opportunity,” with a customer doing in-orbit testing now of one of its terminals and space-to-ground operations starting this year, said Matsumori. He said another EO customer is launching a satellite early next year, and BridgeSat is in discussions with others. He said in satcom, at least one customer is expected to use a BridgeSat terminal, with a launch likely in 2021. He said ISLs will be “very common” in LEO telecom satellites, with numerous operators looking at optical ISLs. Those high-speed networks could use RF, “but it’s probably easier with optical,” he said.