The new antenna is part of NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN), a network of giant dish antennas communicating with spacecraft via radio waves.
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NASA has made a remarkable achievement in space communication by using a new antenna that can receive radio and laser signals from its Psyche spacecraft, which is on a mission to explore a unique asteroid.
The new antenna is part of NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN), a network of giant dish antennas communicating with spacecraft via radio waves. The new antenna, however, can also receive near-infrared laser signals, which can carry more data and enable new space exploration possibilities.
The new antenna, called Deep Space Station 13, is a 34-meter (112-foot) radio-frequency-optical-hybrid antenna. It has been tracking the laser signals from NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology demonstration since November 2023. The DSOC’s flight laser transceiver is attached to the Psyche spacecraft, which was launched on October 13, 2023.
The new antenna is located at the DSN’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, near Barstow, California, and is not part of the DSOC experiment. The DSN, DSOC, and Psyche are managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California.
“Our new antenna has been able to successfully and reliably lock onto and track the DSOC downlink since shortly after the tech demo launched,” said Amy Smith, DSN deputy manager at JPL. “It also received Psyche’s radio frequency signal, so we have demonstrated synchronous radio and optical frequency deep space communications for the first time.”
In late 2023, the new antenna downlinked data from 20 million miles (32 million kilometers) away at a rate of 15.63 megabits per second – about 40 times faster than radio frequency communications at that distance. On January 1, 2024, the antenna downlinked a team photograph uploaded to DSOC before Psyche’s launch.
The new antenna uses a novel optical system to detect the laser’s photons (quantum particles of light). Seven ultra-precise segmented mirrors, resembling the hexagonal mirrors of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, are attached to the inside of the antenna’s curved surface. These segments mimic the light-collecting aperture of a 3.3-foot (1-meter) aperture telescope.
As the laser photons arrive at the antenna, each mirror reflects the photons and precisely redirects them into a high-exposure camera attached to the antenna’s sub-reflector suspended above the center of the dish.
The laser signal collected by the camera is then transmitted through an optical fiber that feeds into a cryogenically cooled semiconducting nanowire single photon detector. The detector is designed and built by JPL’s Microdevices Laboratory. It is identical to the one used at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, which acts as DSOC’s downlink ground station.
“It’s a high-tolerance optical system built on a 34-meter flexible structure,” said Barzia Tehrani, communications ground systems deputy manager and delivery manager for the new antenna at JPL. “We use a system of mirrors, precise sensors, and cameras to actively align and direct laser from deep space into a fiber reaching the detector.”
Tehrani hopes the new antenna will be sensitive enough to detect the laser signal sent from Mars at its farthest point from Earth (2 ½ times the distance from the Sun to Earth). Psyche will be at that distance in June on its way to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter to investigate the metal-rich asteroid Psyche.
The seven-segment reflector on the new antenna is a proof of concept for a scaled-up and more powerful version with 64 segments – the equivalent of a 26-foot (8-meter) aperture telescope – that could be used in the future.
DSOC is paving the way for higher-data-rate communications capable of transmitting complex scientific information, video, and high-definition imagery to support humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars. The tech demo recently streamed the first ultra-high-definition video from deep space at record-setting bitrates.
Retrofitting radio frequency antennas with optical terminals and constructing purpose-built hybrid antennas could solve the lack of a dedicated optical ground infrastructure. The DSN has 14 dishes distributed across California, Madrid, Canberra, and Australia facilities. Hybrid antennas could rely on optical communications to receive high volumes of data and use radio frequencies for less bandwidth-intensive data, such as telemetry (health and positional information).
Optical Flats “For decades, we have been adding new radio frequencies to the DSN’s giant antennas located around the globe, so the most feasible next step is to include optical frequencies,” said Tehrani. “We can have one asset doing two things at the same time; converting our communication roads into highways and saving time, money, and resources.”