Celestia STS Digital Processor used in successful ground to ground laser data transmission field test led by TNO

Back in July 2022, our newly developed Digital Processor aimed for laser satellite communication has been successfully deployed by TNO in a real-world conditions within the scope of TOmCAT project.
TNO and Dutch industrial partners have successfully completed a field test establishing an optical laser communication link over 10 km between the KNMI - Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute test site in Lopik and the Gerbrandy tower in IJsselstein.

 Watch the TNO video on YouTube.

Field test

According to tno.nl "The test conducted as part of the Terabit Optical Communication Adaptive Terminal (TOmCAT) project involved the full optical communication chain, starting from an radio frequency signal, converting it to the optical domain and back again. Sending over bits is one thing, getting them over error free is the ultimate challenge, which is very complex due to all the distortions induced by earth’s atmosphere. A ground link over 10 km where the satellite terminal is placed on a high location (Gerbrandy tower in IJsselstein) provides the closest resemblance of a realistic link (altitude of 39.000km above the earth), in comparison to a ground-to-space link in terms of link disturbances. A combination of technologies employed in the demonstrator, enabled virtually error free communication for multiple minutes in relatively harsh turbulence conditions as for a ground-to-ground link this is more severe."

About TOmCAT

According to tno.nl "TOmCAT is implemented with support from the ESA ARTES ScyLight program and funded by NSO (Netherlands Space Office).TOmCAT was developed in cooperation with; TNO, Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands, Demcon (NL), VDL ETG (NL), Celestia STS (NL), MPB Communications (CAN), Cellnex (NL), KNMI (NL), AAC Hyperion (NL), Hittech Multin (NL), Eutelsat (FR), Airbus DS SAS (FR) and SES (LU). TNO has years of knowledge and experience in developing and building cutting-edge FSO systems and optical systems for Space applications. It is one of the many projects with which TNO tries to stimulate economic growth in the Netherlands and Europe. It enables companies to realize new products, generate new business and improve their competitive position."