A new “laser-powered” project launching in the state of Western Australia could revolutionize global communications.

Two optical ground stations in a strategically placed network have successfully received laser signals from a German satellite, researchers say, paving the way to increase the capacity of communications between space and Earth by an incredible 1,000 times.

The TeraNet initiative is led by astrophotonics scientist Sascha Schediwy of the University of Western Australia (WA) and funded by the Australian Space Agency’s Moon to Mars Demonstrator Mission.

“The overall aim of the project is to contribute to Australia’s vision for the next generation of space exploration,” Schediwy told ScienceAlert.

Satellites have been communicating using radio waves since the launch of Spuntik I in 1957. Their low frequency signal limits their capacity to transmit data, and after nearly 70 years of development, radio wave communication can no longer keep up with the enormous demand for data transmission.

“It has been pushed to the limit, but now a real bottleneck has arisen,” said Schediwy.

Thousands of satellites orbit the Earth and collect huge amounts of data that must be sent back to Earth. High-frequency laser communication could be a solution.

“By switching to infrared laser beams for communication, we can achieve a bandwidth that is 100 or 1,000 times larger,” said Schediwy.

Researchers hope that this powerful satellite communications system will, among other things, help people feel more connected to space exploration than ever before.

“We can have multiple camera angles and 4K video footage of the next humans to land on the moon,” Schediwy said. “I think that’s a really exciting aspect of the technology.”

Conventional radio communications typically have a wide coverage area, which can lead to overlap and interference between radio signals. The shortwave signals used by TeraNet are more focused.

“With optical signals, the beam can be 100 meters (328 feet) wide rather than 100 kilometers (62 miles). So you’re really targeting a single user on the ground,” Schediwy said.

Given these clear advantages, it is surprising that optical communications are not more widely used. But these laser-powered systems have a disadvantage.

Unlike radio waves, targeted shortwave signals are susceptible to interference. Lasers are easily disrupted by clouds, making them an unreliable option for satellite communications.

The team has a surprisingly simple solution. The system will have ground stations at multiple locations in WA connected to the same network, so hopefully at least one station will always have a clear connection to the satellite.

“When it’s cloudy in Perth, the satellite can download its data up in Mingenew, 300 kilometres to the north,” Schediwy said.

If the stations in Perth and Mingenew are both blocked by clouds, the TeraNet program has one last ace up its sleeve: an additional ground station receiver mounted in the back of a jeep that can be driven to the required coordinates to achieve the best signal.

If this initial three-station network is successful, the team is already looking to collaborate with other organisations on the east coast of Australia and in New Zealand to build an Australasian network of optical ground stations. And that’s just the beginning.

“WA is geographically ideally located to be part of a global communications infrastructure, with the ability to oversee a large part of the Indian Ocean and reach into Southeast Asia and the polar region,” Schediwy told ScienceAlert.

Once established, a global optical communications network will enable continuous, ultrafast satellite data downloads. This could transform situations where rapid exchange of large amounts of data is required, such as disaster relief.

There are currently only three ground stations, but they could potentially usher in a new space age of communications.

“This demonstration is the crucial first step,” says Schediwy.