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Completed TRL 8 (started at 4, targeting 8)
NASA has invested in advancing free space optical communications technologies to meet the ever-greater data demands for science and human exploration missions, to cultivate a robust commercial optical communications industrial base, and to enable optical communications technology diffusion for widespread commercial applications. The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) is NASA's first optical communications relay satellite. LCRD has been stationed in geosynchronous orbit and has achieved data links to the ground or low-Earth orbit (LEO) users from 2 Mbps up to 2.88 Gbps. This project demonstrates a terminal operating on ISS for LEO mission users.
Free-space optical communications will enable unprecedented data rates for NASA missions, enabling new scientific and exploration discoveries. Additionally, free-space optical communications capabilities are anticipated to have widespread commercial applications. ILLUMA-T leverages the investments NASA has made in LCRD and cultivates a commercial industrial base towards the goal of widespread commercialization of free-space optical communications.
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.
None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.