As humans inch closer to becoming an interplanetary species, maintaining communication with Earth is vital. On Friday, NASA and partner agency Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) hitched a ride with SpaceX on an ambitious mission to target a metal-rich asteroid, and hopes to demonstrate a new, laser-based transmission system that promises to deliver higher rates of data delivery from deep space.

The experimental laser transmitter for the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) project launched on board SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket yesterday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket was carrying the Psyche mission, which involves a six-year trip to the asteroid and will provide a real-world (or real-space) test of the DSOC transmitter.

“The DSOC is NASA’s first experiment to take optical communications past lunar distances to deep space,” JPL’s DSOC project lead Malcolm Wright told Decrypt in an Interview. “The advantage of optical communications is that prior to now, all the communications have been on radio or microwave links.”

As Wright explained, until now, sending signals using radio and microwaves required larger dishes on the ground and antennas mounted on spacecraft, with limits in frequency reducing the data rate

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Author: Jason Nelson

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