Japanese space startup Warpspace has signed an order for a small number of Mynaric Condor Mk3 terminals. Warpspace plans to use the terminals to establish a commercial optical data relay network for Earth observation satellites. Product delivery is scheduled for 2023, 2024, and 2025.  “Warpspace is building a highly capable optical data relay network in…

Airbus and VDL Group are partnering to develop and manufacture a laser communication terminal for aircraft, to exchange data between aircraft, satellites, and ground terminals. The companies announced the UltraAir terminal on Tuesday, and expect to demonstrate a prototype with a first flight test in 2024. The technology is based on development led by Airbus…

NASA’s TBIRD mission recently achieved a record for optical communications in space. The satellite downlinked 1.4 terabytes of data over laser communications links in a single pass that lasted about five minutes. The agency confirmed the demonstration Dec. 1.  The TBIRD payload — TeraByte InfraRed Delivery — was built by built by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory…

SpaceX is venturing into Earth observation (EO) and hosted payloads for national security use, with a new business line called Starshield. The company added a section to its website for Starshield on Friday, describing it as “SpaceX's Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts.” While Starlink is a commercial business, Starshield will…