New Laser Communication System Could Speed Up Communication Between Astronauts And Earthlings, Thanks To SpaceX and NASA

If a new SpaceX and NASA pilot program succeeds, astronauts will communicate with Mission Control via lasers... and the results could change how the Internet works.

This afternoon, beneath a cloudy sky in Cape Canaveral, a rocket is scheduled to launch with some unusual cargo: a laser communications system for astronauts, the space equivalent of upgrading from dial-up to DSL. NASA's optical laser communications (known as opticom) technology could make it much easier for the International Space Station to share data with Mission Control-and it could change the way our own earthly Internet works as well.

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