Program overview | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Organization | NASA |
Manager | Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
Purpose | Laser communication in space |
Status | Ongoing |
Program history | |
Duration | 2017 | –present
Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) is a laser space communication system in operation that improved communications performance 10 to 100 times over radio frequency technology without incurring increases in mass, volume or power.[1] DSOC is capable of providing high bandwidth downlinks from beyond cislunar space.
The project is led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. In April 2024, the system successfully communicated with the Psyche spacecraft at a distance of 140 million miles.[2]