Projects
![A schematic showing optical ground terminals and satellites transmitting data via lasercom links across the Earth and to the Moon.](/sites/default/files/styles/list/public/project/image/2024-05/Hollow-core%20fiber_1.jpg?itok=subVAkRi)
Guiding Light in Air-Filled Fibers for Long-Distance Lasercom
A new type of fiber could transmit the high-power light needed for future deep-space science and exploration missions.
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![An illustration of data being sent across a laser from a small satellite to a ground station on Earth.](/sites/default/files/styles/list/public/news/image/2022-11/tbird_conops_public_notext.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=qp_Ti0vK)
TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD)
The laser communications payload has delivered terabytes of data from a satellite to Earth at record-breaking rates that will transform future science missions.
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![A rendition of a communications payload on its spacecraft host, with laser links over the Earth connecting Hawaii and California.](/sites/default/files/styles/list/public/project/image/2023-06/LCRD%20schematic.png?itok=tMRpTWBR)
Laser Communications Relay Demonstration
Optical communications technologies decades in the making at Lincoln Laboratory were transferred to NASA for its first two-way laser relay communications system.
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![Photo of researchers launching the weather balloons](/sites/default/files/styles/list/public/project/image/2020-05/518599-123D_0.jpg?itok=E4H4woFc)
Balloon-Based Resilient Communications
High-altitude balloons used as beyond-line-of-sight relays would provide communications nodes if satellite communications could not offer coverage in contested environments.
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![The ASIC system on chip was fabricated using industry processes and best practices. This image shows the chip during the packaging process.](/sites/default/files/styles/list/public/project/image/2018-04/AR16_ISR_Exelis_CLASS_Digital_6_small2_1.jpg?h=a65979a4&itok=jG_rl5_K)
Advanced ASIC System on Chip for CLASS
A power-efficient application-specific integrated circuit system on chip that performs up to 2 trillion computations per second has potential for use in mobile communication systems.
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![The Laboratory's novel optical communication system was integrated on a robotic undersea vehicle.](/sites/default/files/styles/list/public/project/image/2018-09/513340-001D.jpg?itok=8SslKgvb)
Undersea Optical Communications
A system that enables robust, long-distance communications between underwater vehicles exploits laser technology.
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![During a wildfire in southern California, emergency responders shared real-time information on the NICS interface, such as the size of the fire, unit locations, and the rate of the fire’s spread.](/sites/default/files/styles/list/public/project/image/2018-05/NICS.jpg?h=e94bad3e&itok=Htol6ZeU)
Next-Generation Incident Command System
Emergency agencies around the world are using NICS to coordinate rapid and organized response to disasters.
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![The International Space Station will be outfitted with our ILLUMA-T laser terminal to provide optical communications.](/sites/default/files/styles/list/public/project/image/2018-03/323070main_s119e009662_hires.jpg?h=3ced22da&itok=MR0jKxSJ)
![A Gulfstream III aircraft is shown with a PACECR communications pod attached.](/sites/default/files/styles/list/public/project/image/2018-03/ISR_PACECR_513615-041D_smaller.jpg?h=45c45d6d&itok=8WuDgbYC)
Prototype Airborne Contested Environment Communication Relay (PACECR)
A system enables aircraft to replace a satellite communications network.
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![Lincoln Laboratory personnel Joseph Zurkus, left, and Jacob Huang, right, operate a protected tactical waveform modem and collect data while Ted O'Connell, back, monitors terminal equipment during flight testing.](/sites/default/files/styles/list/public/project/image/2018-03/513115-018D_smaller.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=j5UvOIB7)
Protected Antijam Tactical SATCOM
Satellite communications technologies enable the U.S. military to maintain connectivity in the field.
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