Overview of the Deep Space Optical ommunications (DSOC) technology demonstration

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) Project implemented by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), has completed weekly optical link demonstrations from November 2023 – December 2024, following the Psyche spacecraft launch in October 2023. The flight laser transceiver, hosted by NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, along with optical ground stations located in Southern California were used. Over this period, downlink data-rates of 6.25 – 267 Mb/s were achieved over deep space distances of 0.2 – 2.7 astronomical units (AU), or 30 – 400 million Km. Optical link acquisition, tracking and pointing was initiated with a modulated uplink laser assembly that also delivered communications at a fixed rate of 1.8 kb/s over distances of 0.2 – 3.3 AU.