Laser satellite shatters space-to-Earth data transmission speed record.
A small satellite developed by MIT engineers has set a new record for data transmission between a satellite and Earth.
The TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) system used a laser to beam huge amounts of data at up to 100 gigabits per second (Gbps).
This data transmission speed is far greater than most connections you’ll get between the sky and the ground.
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet offers up to 500 Mbps to Premium customers, and even the International Space Station’s data transmission tops out around 600 Mbps.
That makes TBIRD up to 200 times faster.
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The key difference is that most satellites communicate with ground stations via radio waves.
TBIRD, on the other hand, uses laser light, which can carry up to 1,000 times more data in each transmission.
Lasers come with their own hurdles though – the beams are much narrower, requiring more precise alignment between transmitter and receiver.
Foreign [Music] Laser satellite shatters space to Earth Data transmission speed record a small Satellite developed by MIT Engineers has Set a new record for data transmission Between a satellite and Earth the Terabyte infrared delivery tbird system Used a laser to beam huge amounts of Data add up to 100 gigabits per second Gbps this data transmission speed is far Greater than most connections you'll get Between the sky and the ground spacex's Starlink satellite internet offers up to 500 megabits per second to premium Customers and even the International Space Station's data transmission tops Out around 600 megabits per second that Makes TBI Rd up to 200 times faster to Stay up to date with latest top stories Make sure to subscribe to this YouTube Channel by clicking the button above This video the key difference is that Most satellites communicate with ground Stations via radio waves tbrd on the Other hand uses laser light which can Carry up to 1000 times more data in each Trans Mission lasers come with their own Hurdles though the beams are much Narrower requiring more precise Alignment between transmitter and Receiver and the light can be distorted By the atmosphere leading to data loss So tbird was designed to overcome these
Issues the satellite contains three main Off-the-shelf components a high-speed Optical modem an optical signal Amplifier and a storage drive all packed Into a container the size of a shoebox To tackle the data loss problem the team Developed a new version of what's called An automatic repeat request arq protocol This allows a ground station receiver to Alert the sender to specific packets of Data frames that it missed so the Satellite can just resend those if the Signal drops out data can be Re-transmitted but if done and Efficiently meaning you spend all your Time sending repeat data instead of new Data you can lose a lot of throughput Said Kurt Schiller TV ird system Engineer with our arq protocol the Receiver tells the satellite which Frames it received correctly so the Satellite knows which ones to Re-transmit as for alignment tbird Doesn't bother with a gimmel to point The laser beam instead it uses a custom Error signaling system that adjusts the Entire satellite itself to point Precisely towards the receiver this the Team says allows the optical components To be miniaturized having achieved the Tbird's original Mission of transmitting Huge amounts of data quickly via lasers The team now plans to attempt to double That next we plan to exercise additional
Features of the tbird system including Increasing rates to 200 gigabits per Second enabling the downlink of more Than two terabytes of data equivalent to 1000 high-definition movies in a single Five minute Passover a ground station Said Jade Wang TBI Rd program manager Foreign [Music]
