NASA Terminal Transmits First Laser Communications Uplink to Space

NASA's LCOT (Low-Cost Optical Terminal), a ground station made of modified commercial hardware, transmitted its first laser communications uplink to the TBIRD (TeraByte Infrared Delivery), a tissue box-sized payload formerly in low Earth orbit. During the first live sky test, NASA's LCOT produced enough uplink intensity for the TBIRD payload to identify the laser beacon, […]