CONTEC recently ordered an optical ground station (OGS) from Cailabs, which will be installed in 2024.
CONTEC, a Korean company that was spun off from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), is developing an optical ground station infrastructure to enable satellite operators to rely on laser comms in their architecture, as they use the propagation of light in vacuum and air to exchange information and do not require an allocated frequency band.
The challenge of this promising new technology is to gain in transfer capacity, avoid spectrum problems and, in some cases, secure links by relying on the properties of low probability of interception (LPI) and detection (LPD).
Nevertheless, laser comms are strongly impacted by atmospheric turbulence, which degrades link quality. Cailabs has developed the TILBA-ATMO component, which is able to compensate for atmospheric turbulence.
The optical ground station ordered by CONTEC will incorporate this unique component for reliable, highspeed communications. The ground station will be CCSDS (Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems)-capable by default and will also be SDA (Space Development Agency) and QKD (Quantum Key Distribution, a cryptographic protocol designed to establish a shared secret between two participants communicating over an insecure channel) 3-capable.
The optical ground station is expected to add efficiency on supporting space missions used together with its existing ground stations based on radio frequency. CONTEC has installed 12 ground stations worldwide which provide satellite operators turnkey solution for ground support.
As we are experiencing an increasing demand for GSaaS (Ground Station as a Service), we will keep on enlarging our ground station network. In 2023 we will install more antennas across America and Europe. We manufacture turnkey optical ground stations that manage atmospheric turbulence to deliver on the promise of high-capacity laser communications, even through the atmosphere.”
Dr. Lee, CEO of CONTEC
It is a privilege for Cailabs to announce that CONTEC has ordered an optical ground station from us. We hope that this contract marks the beginning of a long collaboration in a growing market.”
Fabien Ghez, Sales Director, Cailabs.