Abstract

The historic trend in satellite communications has seen communication bandwidth utilization increasing 3 orders of magnitude per decade. This trend points toward common usage of gigabit per second data rates in the 1980s. Mission constraints and requirements lead to the conclusion that the most efficient means of transmitting such data from a satellite in low earth orbit to a single earth station is a laser data link through a geosynchronous relay satellite. The laser link is attractive because of its small antenna size and competitive power and weight compared to rf systems.

© 1976 Optical Society of America