Commercial optical inter-satellite communication at high data rates

Laser communication terminals with data rates far above 1 Gbps have been in operation in orbit since January 2008, and the links established between two low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites have demonstrated error-free communication. Bit error rates better than 10−11 have been achieved without data encoding. Signal acquisition can be reproducibly achieved within a few seconds. After adaptation to larger link separation distances these laser communication terminals will be used in the low earth orbit-geosynchronous satellite (LEO-GEO) link of European data relay satellite (EDRS), the GEO European data relay system. LEO-to-ground and ground-to-LEO links have examined the impact of the atmosphere on such optical links. In the future, high data rate GEO-to-ground links will require ground stations equipped with adaptive optics, which are currently under development.