OPTEL-G: multi-purpose optical communication terminal looking at future needs

A new development for a state of the art multi-purpose optical communication terminal, OPTEL-G, is in progress at Thales Alenia Space. Thanks to the more than 20 years of experience in developing building blocks and end products for optical communication of Thales Alenia Space in Switzerland, we have conceived a powerful product to cover a broad range of use cases covering bi-directional inter-satellite links, orbit to ground and deep space applications. The product is aiming to serve optical communication applications in GEO and MEO orbits, and adjacent business opportunity such as QKD from LEO and laser ranging and time synchronization. The terminal will achieve up to 100Gbps data rate in a single channel and cover the 2.5 GBps OOK communication in order to inter-link with products developed according to SDA standards. It cover link ranges up to 80’000km in a classical configuration, but can be pushed to achieve deep-space ranges (Moon to Earth or Mars to Earth) at lower data rates. As such, it can grant inter-satellite links from and to any Earth orbit (LEO, MEO and GEO). The selected architecture makes it compatible to all relevant applicable standards (SDA, CCSDS and ESTOL), thus supporting inter-operability with existing terminals. The design will be validated for a lifetime of 15 years in GEO orbit, but can be provided as well in customized version for shorter life and lower orbits environment to save on costs. OPTEL-G is currently a baselined optical terminal for ESA HydRON and SAGA programs, which are the main platforms that will broaden the use of high data-rate classical communication and QKD in Europe. Furthermore, OPTEL-G’s versatility is currently assessed to extend its use cases to deep-space applications in Cislunar and Mars environment to support the build-up of the future interplanetary communication backbone and for Navigation PNT functionalities in MEO. This latest upgrade will support the introduction of unprecedented accuracy in ranging and timing information for navigation. Thales Alenia Space is targeting In Orbit Demonstration by mid-2028, and achieve commercial availability of the terminal as per 2028.