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3h ago

NASA Concludes Deep-Space Laser Demo With Psyche’s Final Downlink at 218 Million Miles

The two-year DSOC test delivered broadband-like rates, with 13.6 terabytes returned.

The Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory at JPL’s Table Mountain Facility, California.
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Earth Just Received Final NASA Laser Message From 218 Million Miles Away

Overview

  • The last optical pass occurred on September 2 from about 2.34 AU (~350 million km), delivering 12.4 Mbps under partly cloudy skies and 20.8 Mbps at 2.28 AU in clear conditions.
  • Across 65 downlinks, DSOC sent 13.6 TB to Earth, including an ultra‑HD video at 267 Mbps from roughly 30.5 million km; at ~386 million km it sustained 6.25 Mbps, peaking at 8.3 Mbps.
  • Psyche previously set a distance milestone in December 2024 with a laser downlink from about 494 million km (307 million miles).
  • With the demonstration complete, Psyche has switched back to radio communications as it cruises toward a 2029 rendezvous with asteroid 16 Psyche.
  • Engineers cite strict pointing requirements and weather‑limited ground reception as key hurdles; this campaign used a JPL Table Mountain laser beacon for uplink and Caltech’s 200‑inch Palomar telescope for downlink.