https://www.esa.int/Applications/Teleco ... s_securely
Optical communication is extremely hard to intercept because, in comparison to radio frequencies, it uses much narrower beams.
The laser communication terminal demonstrator developed by Airbus and partners will be designed, constructed and tested under laboratory conditions by the end of 2021.
The following year, the system – called UltraAir – will be installed in ESA’s optical ground station in Tenerife, Spain and tested in a communication link with another laser terminal on board the Alphasat telecommunications satellite, which is in geostationary orbit some 36 000 kilometres above Earth.
For the final verification, the UltraAir demonstrator will be integrated on an aircraft for flight testing by mid-2022.
The technology demonstrator will pave the way for a future UltraAir product which could reach data transmission rates of several gigabits-per-second while providing anti-jamming technology and a low probability of interception.
