A LEO-Based Hybrid RF-Optical Data-Relay Network for Augmenting Earth Observation Satellite Downlink

Major low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite downlink limitations, caused by restrictions on ground terminal coverage due to geography and geopolitics, result in remote-sensing satellites operators having to choose between severe underutilization of the asset or payloads with lower data generation rates that compromise image quality. DoD’s requirements of high resolution images downlinked to specific secure locations further exacerbates this challenge. In order to drastically improve downlink capabilities Analytical Space (ASI) is constructing a backward compatible data relay network utilizing laser downlink which will not only solve underutilization of satellite data but also increase the amount of data downlinked. ASI’s data-relay network is composed of satellites distributed in LEO which link with remote-sensing satellites when they do not have access to ground infrastructure. This data is relayed via RF across ASI’s network and downlinked optically with an RF backup to any secure ground site, enabling uncompromised low-latency transmission and high data throughput. ASI successfully launched Radix as a proof of concept to demonstrate the data relay capability with potential commercial customers. ASI will create significant value for commercial and government entities in the fields of: synthetic aperture radar, asset tracking, weather forecasting, hyperspectral and high-resolution multi-spectral imagery.