Practical application of the Optical Wireless communication technology (OWLS) in extreme environments

Since 2000, the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technique (INTA) has been developing the so-called OWLS technology (Optical Wireless Links for intra-Spacecraft communications). After a number of ground-demonstrations, technological developments, and in-orbit experiments, the time was ripe for a new step: the transition from the experimental to the “platform” technology. This is where the highest TRL has been achieved. OWLS has been recently applied to (A) the On Board Data Handling subsystem of OPTOS, the first fully wireless satellite, and (B) addressing the communication challenge between a sensor and a meteorological station on the Martian surface, within the Mars MetNet Precursor Mission.