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Airborne Laser Optical Link Demonstrator
Bonn - Dec 09, 2003 EADS Astrium has been awarded a contract by the French MoD Procurement Agency � Telecommunication and Observation Programs Dept for the demonstration of an optical link between an airborne carrier representative of the future medium- and high-altitude UAVs (MALE and HALE) and the Artemis geo-stationary satellite from ESA by 2006. EADS Astrium is prime on this programme valued at around 50 M euro on which Alcatel Space and ONERA participate as sub-contractors. The demonstrator is called LOLA (Liaison Optique Laser A�roport�e). It will be used to characterize the propagation of light beams in the atmosphere and to validate the system performance capabilities of the link. The link will be used for secure transmission of information received from UAVs by operation centres a few thousand kilometres away, within about one second and at very high data rates (50 Mbits/s with Artemis, and eventually several hundred megabits/s). This high capacity datastream will considerably reduce the time needed to transmit information from the theatre of operation, will improve control of information and will bring significant operational advantages. Following the success of the first ever laser transmissions, using the SILEX link, between the civilian, earth observation satellite SPOT4 from CNES and the Artemis telecommunication satellite, this contract clearly shows the relevance of optical links for dual or defence applications. It also validates EADS Astrium expertise in the sphere of optical links for telecommunications applications. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links EADS Astrium SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Space Technology News - Applications and Research
Ultracold Test Produces Long-Sought Quantum Mix
Houston TX (SPX) Dec 28, 2005In the bizarre and rule-bound world of quantum physics, every tiny spec of matter has something called "spin" - an intrinsic trait like eye color - that cannot be changed and which dictates, very specifically, what other bits of matter the spec can share quantum space with. When fermions, the most antisocial type of quantum particle, do get together, they pair up in a wondrous dance that enables such things as superconductivity. |
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