A man works simultaneously on three flat screens at an exhibition booth at the International Conference on Communication and Technologies in Havana February 16, 2007
A man works simultaneously on three flat screens at an exhibition booth at the International Conference on Communication and Technologies in Havana, February 16, 2007 Reuters/Claudia Daut

NASA's latest project will try to find better ways of bridging communication between spacecrafts and planet Earth. If this technology is successful, then it can help NASA send data 100 times faster than its current capacity.

The space organisation's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) may be able to check if NASA's technology is compatible with high-speed laser communication.

NASA's officers and astronauts in outer space currently have to rely on constant exchange of scientific data in order to make precise calculations of trajectory, route and other important mission details. They plan on pursuing laser-based communication through the LCRD.

The organisation explained in a feature that data will be "encoded" into beams of light that are transmitted between senders and receivers. The LCRD will have optical terminals to translate data into laser or radio signals. The device sends a signal back to Earth once it is converted into laser. There will be two terminals with laser modems in California and Hawaii to send and receive data to and from the LCRD.

The technology can offer speeds 10 to 100 times faster than current radio-frequency systems. Moreover, this laser-based communication will also need smaller and lighter equipment.

NASA satellites currently communicate via radio waves. NASA's Mars Rover website explained that 60 megabits of data from Mars can be received in Earth within 1.5 to 5 hours using current technology. To compare, according to the ABC, current fibre optic technology can offer internet speeds of up to 100 megabits per second.

This also means the technology LCRD may provide will pave the way for smaller and lighter devices with less energy requirements. These traits can be useful for long-distance journeys to other celestial bodies.

"LCRD is the next step in implementing NASA’s vision of using optical communications for both near-Earth and deep space missions," Steve Jurczyk, LCRD project head, said. The article added the technology itself was designed to function for two to five years.

NASA has not divulged a specific launch date. However, the LCRD is scheduled for a summer 2019 launch.

The LCRD is an improved version of the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD) that was launched in 2013. This was the first project to demonstrate the efficiency of lasers for communication. The LCRD will try to check if this technology can last for a long time.

Don Cornwell, director of NASA's Advanced Communication and Navigation division, said they are also planning to install a laser terminal for the International Space Station (ISS) by 2021. He said this will also use the LCRD to transmit data from the ISS to Earth at "gigabit-per-second data rates."

"Once tested, we hope that many other Earth-orbiting NASA missions will also fly copies of it to relay their data through LCRD to the ground," he said. Unfortunately, NASA has yet to confirm if there are plans to use the LCRD technology to current internet systems.