Amazon said on Thursday its Kuiper project successfully demonstrated key technology that will increase throughput and reduce latency for customers using its satellite internet service. The technology, known as Optical Inter-Satellite Link (OISL), is a type of optical communication that uses infrared lasers to send data between spacecraft in orbit. OISL has enabled inter-satellite communications for some time, but early technology was limited to connecting two satellites at a time. Kuiper satellites will be able to connect to many other spacecraft simultaneously, forming a mesh network in space.
This mesh capability is key: With it, Kuiper will be able to transmit data 30% faster than the same distance over terrestrial fiber optic cables.
Amazon must overcome a series of challenges to achieve this advanced OISL. The laser's beam had to be very narrow and precise to ensure that the docking remained 1,616 miles away, while the spacecraft was traveling at speeds of up to 15,534 miles per hour, with all the associated orbital dynamics. The company says its optics and control systems overcome all of these obstacles.
The test results were truly impressive: Amazon said it completed multiple demonstrations of its OISL technology after launching a prototype satellite in October, during which the satellite maintained a 100Gbits-per-second link over a distance of more than 620 miles.
These tests validate the final component of the "Kuiper" advanced communications architecture, and the results ensure that OISL will be put into use on the first batch of production satellites, which are scheduled to be launched in the first half of 2024.
Amazon confirmed last month that it had validated all systems and subsystems on two prototype satellites, but this is the first time the company has revealed the details behind its advanced OISL architecture.
"Through optical inter-satellite links on our satellite constellation, Project Kuiper will effectively operate as a mesh network in space," Kuiper vice president of technology Rajeev Badyal said in a statement. "This system is designed entirely in-house to optimize speed, cost and reliability, and the entire architecture operates flawlessly from the start."
Amazon expects to deploy enough satellites to begin early customer trials in the second half of 2024. According to the company's license from the Federal Communications Commission, the entire constellation must be launched by July 2029 and will consist of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit.