At ESA Scylight 2026 conference in Tenerife, OGS Technologies has presented initial results of 10 Gsps optical links between LASIN, an optical terminal aboard the new CO3D Airbus/CNES LEO constellation, and the French Optical Ground Station (FrOGS).
LASIN (LASer through the INstrument) is a Direct-to-Earth LaserCom demonstrator, co-funded by ADS and CNES, flying as a technological experiment on one CO3D satellite.
CNES procured a versatile OGS designed and built by a French consortium (OGS Tech, Bertin Alpao, Safran Data Systems) that is used for various Free Space Optical missions. For a LEO DTE mission, the FrOGS receptor includes an adaptive optics (AO) system to inject the beam in a single-mode optical fiber and an OOK pre-amplified receptor (CNES, Safran). Future tests will involve free space coupling on an APD detector.
In-orbit tests are still on-going and have already demonstrated excellent acquisition and tracking. Closed AO loops are robust even at low elevation, allowing to inject sufficient power in the single mode fiber for data communications up to 9 Gpbs.
