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Completed TRL 8 (started at 4, targeting 8)
Optical payload onboard the Psyche spacecraft, to demonstrate optical comm from deep space for future Mars missions. Partnership with STMD Technology Demonstration Missions (TDM): TDM: flight terminal, SCaN: ground.
NASA’s DSOC experiment is the agency’s first demonstration of optical communications beyond the Earth-Moon system. DSOC is a system that consists of a flight laser transceiver, a ground laser transmitter, and a ground laser receiver. New advanced technologies have been implemented in each of these elements.
Significantly improved link bandwidths for deep space missions using optical communications technologies on spacecraft and ground systems. Tried-and-tested radio frequency communications from deep space are approaching their bandwidth limit, raising the need for upgraded communications systems. Future space missions, meanwhile, are expected to transmit huge volumes of science data, including high-definition images and video, significantly increasing the bandwidth required.
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This is a mature technology (TRL 8) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.
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