A team at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland streamed 4K video footage from an aircraft to the International Space Station and then back to Earth using laser communication. This feat opens the opportunity to broadcast live video coverage of astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis missions.

Making 4K Possible

The optical system temporarily installed on the belly of the PC-12 aircraft that helps transmit 4K video; Photo: NASA

Historically, NASA has sent information to and from space using radio waves. However, laser communications use infrared light to transmit 10 to 100 times more data faster than radio systems. The Air Force Research Laboratory aligned with NASA’s Small Business Innovative Research program to temporarily attach a portable laser terminal to an aircraft. Then, they flew the Pilatus PC-12 aircraft over Lake Erie to send data from the aircraft to a ground station in Cleveland. Then, the data was sent over an Earth-based system to NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. From there, scientists used infrared light signals to send the data.

According to NASA, the signals traveled 22,000 miles from Earth to one of NASA’s orbiting experimental platforms called the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD). The LCRD then relayed the signals to a payload mounted on the ISS.  ILLUMA-T (Integrated LCRD LEO User Modem and Amplifier Terminal), the payload mounted to the orbiting lab, sent the data back to Earth. During the experiments, a new system developed by NASA’s Glenn, High-Rate Delay Tolerant Networking (HDTN), helped the signal break through cloud coverage more effectively.

Streaming From Space

“These experiments are a tremendous accomplishment,” said Dr. Daniel Raible, principal investigator for the HDTN project at Glenn. “We can now build upon the success of streaming 4K HD videos to and from the space station to provide future capabilities, like HD videoconferencing, for our Artemis astronauts, which will be important for crew health and activity coordination.”

A graphic representation of a laser communications relay between space and Earth; Photo: NASA

After each test flight, the team improved the functionality of their technology. Testing the technology in the air often finds issues more effectively. Additionally, it’s more cost-effective than space testing. Having success in a simulated space environment helps move technology from a lab to production. James Demers, the Chief of Aircraft Operations at Glenn, said, “Teams at Glenn ensure new ideas are not stuck in a lab, but actually flown in the relevant environment to ensure this technology can be matured to improve the lives of all of us.”

The Moon and Beyond

These flights are part of an initiative to get high-bandwidth video from deep space. In addition, it enables future human missions beyond low-orbit Earth. NASA wants to develop advanced science instruments that allow them to capture high-definition data on the Moon and beyond. The agency’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program welcomes laser communication to send large amounts of information back to Earth.

NASA’s ILLUMA-T payload is no longer attached to the ISS. However, researchers plan to continue testing 4K streaming from the PC-12 aircraft. The agency aims to have the technology ready for humanity’s return to the Moon’s surface through Artemis. In theory, we could witness the exploration through video.