Laser Communication Terminal on Alphasat

The Optical Communication Terminal is one of four ESA Technology Demonstration Payloads carried by Alphasat and created by German space agency DLR and German company TESAT. It relays Earth observation data from low-Earth orbit (LEO) to geostationary orbit (GEO) through laser transmission. A Ka-band transmitter then forwards the data to a ground station.

Here, the TDP is shown on Alphasat in an Intespace clean room.