NASA is set to test a laser technology in space. This mission is aimed at speeding up space communications. The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) will be launched on December 4 after a two-year delay.
The technology will be launched into space aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket during the Space Test Program Satellite-6 (STPSat-6) mission by the Department of Defense. The mission is expected to be launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Despite the delay, investigators suggest that the LCRD will be launched right in time to benefit the Artemis manned Moon-landing mission that is scheduled to be executed in 2025.
It said that the technology allows 10–100 times more data sent back to Earth when compared to radio frequencies. If missions began to use lasers, it will also prevent overcrowding of the radio frequency spectrum, said Badri Younes, the deputy associate administrator of NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program.
NASA will soon launch more laser missions, not only to and from the Moon but also further out in the solar system.