Space laser communication-An overview

Satellite communications is an important segment of near term and future hybrid network architectures of orbital and terrestrial systems, allowing rapid access to multimedia information services. Recent technological advances in the supporting technologies have now enabled laser communication subsystems to support the anticipated high-performance characteristics needed by future networks. In this paper we describe the advantages of space borne optical communications for intersatellite links and the application to the emerging information infrastructures. We also present an overview of worldwide efforts to demonstrate the capability of this emerging technology.