A team from Odysseus Space preparing the Cyclops, an space-to-ground laser communication solution that should be taken into space in 2026. Photo: Odysseus Space

A team from Odysseus Space preparing the Cyclops, an space-to-ground laser communication solution that should be taken into space in 2026. Photo: Odysseus Space

Founded in Taiwan in 2016 and hosted at the Technoport in Esch-sur-Alzette since 2018, space startup Odysseus Space will find out--in 2026--if its Cyclops laser terminal can revolutionise the field of data transmission from space.

Cross-border commuters will soon get the picture: with so many cars on the road, it’s impossible to get around. It’s much the same in space, where satellite launches by the thousands are darkening the sky and multiplying the interference between the sky and Earth, especially as on Earth the development of 5G--and soon 6G--and the proliferation of interconnected objects are making frequencies scarce and expensive.

Light, on the other hand, has the possibility of transmitting much more data. That’s where the Cyclops laser communication technology, created by the startup Odysseus Space, comes in. The German company Reflex Aerospace, a manufacturer of dual-use satellite platforms, has been selected to host Odysseus Space’s Cyclops Space2Ground laser communication terminal on an upcoming mission. The mission will be sent into space in early 2026, where Reflex’s satellite will connect the Cyclops terminal to the Odysseus ground station and thus “enable the transmission of large volumes of Earth observation (EO) data to the ground stations at a very high data rate,” the two companies announced on 17 September at the World Space Business Week in Paris.

“Our customers, who often operate sophisticated instruments that generate vast amounts of data, will reap the benefits of this technology,” said Reflex Aerospace CCO Dennis Moore. “We’re enabling the next generation of laser communication technology and pushing the boundaries of high pointing accuracy and stability, essential for our customers’ very high-resolution EO [Earth observation] missions.”

If the in-orbit-demonstration is successful, the German company will take out a one-year subscription with Odysseus. The subscription can include the laser space terminal and gives satellite operators access to the optical ground station network, enabling data retrieval at up to 10 Gbps, and 1 TB per day.

Light is also the vehicle used to transmit secure data as part of the European Eagle 1 project, in which SES of Luxembourg is a partner. The aim is to transmit codes for decrypting sensitive data, .

This article was originally published in .

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