Demonstration of space development agency-compatible space-to-ground bi-directional optical links

We report the demonstration of Space Development Agency-compatible space-to-ground bi-directional optical communication between a Kepler Communications satellite and a Cailabs optical ground station. This test used Tesat’s SCOT80 laser terminal and Cailabs’ turbulence mitigation technologies to achieve robust high-speed data transmission in real-world conditions. The successful demonstration validates the potential of space-to-ground free-space optical links in SDA standard.