TOPIC : OPTICAL SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

JOSE PETER M ROLL NO: 20 DATE : 28-11-2012

Communication links between spacecrafts and also beween satellites is an important element of space infrastructure. Such links allow a major reduction in the number of earth stations needed to service the system. The traditional and most common method of communication used in space today is microwave communication. The communication between the satellites is also very less. This mode of communication also needs larger antenna and higher bandwidth. The communication cost is high too. The need of many earth stations is another disadvantage. Optical technology when used in communication between satellites it saves a lot of money and also it offers a number of potential advantages over microwave satellite communication. The antenna can be much smaller. A typical microwave dish is meters. But optical antenna is just a few centimetres. Optical beam widths are much less than for microwaves, leading to very high antenna gains on both transmit and receive. Less power is only required. Less security issues. ie the data can be transmitted confidentially. around 1 to 2

In the coming century this new technology related with satellite communication can save a huge amount of money in this field, with its advantages when compared to the traditional satellite communication. This would help in reducing distant communication cost in the future. More amount of data, at an increased bandwidth, at lower cost, to all parts of the world will be possible with this. This would indirectly benefit the common people who pays money for internet, telephone calls and satellite television channels.