Internet connection technology from space to the surface of the earth is seen to be growing, with various services such as Starlink, ConnectMeNow from Malaysia and others starting to demonstrate their ability to connect devices to the internet network no matter where they are.
General Atomics, a defense and energy company from the United States, has collaborated with telecommunications company Kepler Communications on an airplane and successfully tested a satellite-to-airplane internet connection that recorded an internet connection speed of 1Gbps.
Internet connections using satellites are not new, but they typically use electromagnetic radiation that can be emitted more widely. What General Atomics and Kepler Communications tested was a connection using laser light, which typically requires the receiver to be stationary and maintain a direct line of sight or angle of view from the satellite to the receiving component.
General Atomics has installed their 10W Optical Communication Terminal (OCT) laser transmitter/receiver on a De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter airplane that is being flown in US airspace.
With this tested technology, the OCT can technically transmit and receive data at a rate of 2.5Gbps, but through airplane flight tests, it was seen to be able to transmit and receive data at a rate of 1Gbps.
In the meantime, the maximum connection distance between the transmitter and the satellite is reported to be at a distance of 5500KM, but for this test, it is reported that the satellite is in a low orbit position, so the distance between these two objects is closer than the maximum value.
The results of this test are a very good achievement, especially when the application of this technology may be utilized by various other sectors in the future.