The Internet Is Leaving Earth
Beyond NASA, Starlink satellites are using optical inter-satellite links to transmit data via infrared laser beams
WASHINGTON, April 19, 2026 – Satellites are beginning to communicate with each other using lasers instead of radio waves, a shift already underway in low-Earth orbit and on NASA’s Artemis II mission. The technology could begin to reshape how global networks are built in space.
For more than half a century, space communications have relied on radio frequencies. When Apollo astronauts first spoke from the Moon, their voices traveled over S-band frequencies, a system that remains in use today aboard NASA’s Artemis missions. But as data demands surge and satellite networks expand at an incredible speed, that legacy architecture is beginning to show its limits.
In low-Earth orbit, SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are using optical inter-satellite links to transmit data via infrared laser beams, allowing signals to travel directly between satellites instead of routing through ground stations, according to SpaceX technical materials and industry reporting on the system’s laser interlink architecture.
At the same time, NASA’s Artemis II mission has demonstrated optical downlinks of up to 260 Megabits per second (Mbps) from near the Moon, according to NASA mission updates and technical documentation for the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System.
Together, these developments signal a shift toward faster, higher-capacity space-based networks. But much of that momentum is being driven by private industry.
Elon’s SpaceX lasers
SpaceX, which operates the Starlink broadband constellation, is already deploying satellites capable of laser communication. Company founder Elon Musk said in an April 11 post on X that future generations of satellites launched aboard its Starship rocket could significantly increase bandwidth, potentially boosting capacity by as much as 25 to 50 times per launch.
SpaceX is also rapidly scaling production of its Starlink satellites. Analysts at Quilty Space estimate the company is producing more than 4,000 satellites per year, with its global network of ground stations expanding to more than 500 sites worldwide, according to a recent industry report. The growth reflects rising demand for space-based connectivity across aviation, maritime, and enterprise markets.
Beyond NASA and SpaceX, similar technologies are being explored by commercial operators and international space agencies testing optical inter-satellite links.
Despite these advances, NASA’s Artemis missions indicate both the promise and the constraints of current systems. While modern hardware allows spacecraft to transmit significantly more data than in the Apollo era, the underlying reliance on radio frequencies remains a bottleneck.
NASA’s Artemis communications relies primarily on S-band radio frequencies at around 2–2.3 GigaHertz (GHz) for telemetry, voice, and low-rate data, with higher-frequency Ka-band links (around 26–40 GHz) used for higher-capacity transmissions, according to NASA technical documentation for the Artemis II optical communications system.
Even today, spacecraft can experience communication blackouts, most notably when passing behind the Moon, spotlighting the limits of Earth-based relay systems.
Mechanics of optical communications
To overcome these constraints, space agencies and private companies are increasingly turning to optical communications, which use infrared laser beams rather than radio waves.
These systems transmit data by encoding information into pulses of infrared light, typically in the near-infrared range around 1550 nanometers, a standard wavelength also used in fiber-optic networks on Earth, which are transmitted as tightly focused beams between spacecraft or to ground stations, according to NASA and MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
Laser systems also face practical limitations, including the need for a clear line of sight and sensitivity to weather conditions on Earth such as clouds or atmospheric interference that can disperse the light, reducing laser effectiveness.
Still, the advantages are substantial. Laser systems can transmit 10 to 100 times more data than traditional radio-frequency links, while also being lighter, more energy-efficient, and more secure due to their narrow, focused beams.
Optical communications are already widely used in terrestrial fiber-optic networks, which transmit data using the same infrared wavelengths at high speeds over long distances.
Even when weather reduced performance from 260 Mbps to about 80 Mbps, the NASA system delivered more than 100 gigabytes of data to Earth, an amount that would have taken weeks to transmit using S-band radio alone.
NASA officials describe the system as a complement, not a replacement: radio frequencies handle constant telemetry and voice communication, while optical links are used for high-capacity data transmission such as video and large file transfers.
Lasers beyond Earth
Just as importantly, laser communications operate outside the crowded radio spectrum. Unlike traditional satellite systems, which must compete for limited frequency allocations regulated by agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission, optical systems rely on a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that remains largely unregulated.
Specifically, these systems operate in the optical and infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, well above the microwave frequencies used for radio communications, and are not currently subject to the same licensing regimes governed by the FCC or the International Telecommunication Union, according to FCC and ITU technical studies.
This shift is already changing how data moves in space. In low-Earth orbit, systems such as SpaceX’s Starlink constellation use optical inter-satellite links to transmit data directly between satellites, reducing reliance on ground stations and improving speed and reliability.
Yet as optical systems and satellite networks expand, regulation is struggling to keep pace.
The FCC’s current framework for satellite communications was built around radio-frequency regulation. As the agency considers changes to satellite spectrum sharing, tools like frequency-based licensing may be less relevant in an optical-dominated system.
Instead, future regulatory discussions may focus more on managing orbital congestion, preventing interference across hybrid systems, and coordinating international standards.
The ITU, an agency of the United Nations, has already begun studying how to integrate optical links into global communications frameworks, signaling that governance of space-based networks will increasingly require international cooperation.
The ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) has initiated studies on how optical inter-satellite links can be standardized alongside existing radio-frequency systems, particularly to ensure interoperability between national satellite networks and prevent conflicts with existing Earth observation and astronomical systems.
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