CONTEC chooses Cailabs for its next optical ground station
The Korean company CONTEC has ordered an optical ground station (OGS) from Cailabs, which will be installed in 2024.
CONTEC, a Korean company, spin off from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), is developing an optical ground station infrastructure to enable satellite operators to rely on laser communications in their architecture.
Laser communications use the propagation of light in vacuum and air to exchange information and do not require an allocated frequency band.
The challenge of this promising new technology is therefore to gain in transfer capacity, avoid spectrum problems and, in some cases, secure links by relying on the properties of low probability of interception (LPI) and detection (LPD).
Nevertheless, these laser communications are strongly impacted by atmospheric turbulence, which degrades link quality.
“We manufacture turnkey optical ground stations that manage atmospheric turbulence to deliver on the promise of high-capacity laser communications, even through the atmosphere,” explains Jean-François Morizur, CEO of Cailabs.
As the world leader in light shaping, Cailabs has developed the TILBA®-ATMO component, which is able to compensate for atmospheric turbulence.
The optical ground station ordered by CONTEC will incorporate this unique component for reliable, highspeed communications. The ground station will be CCSDS1-capable by default and will also be SDA2 and QKD3-capable.
The optical ground station is expected to add efficiency on supporting space missions used together with its existing ground stations based on radio frequency. CONTEC has installed 12 ground stations worldwide which provide satellite operators turnkey solution for ground support.
CEO of CONTEC, Sunghee Lee annouced “As we are experiencing an increasing demand for GSaaS (Ground Station as a Service), we will keep on enlarging our ground station network. In 2023 we will install more antennas across America and Europe.“
“It is a privilege for Cailabs to announce that CONTEC has ordered an optical ground station from us. We hope that this contract marks the beginning of a long collaboration in a growing market“, says Fabien Ghez, Sales Director of Cailabs.
About CONTEC
CONTEC is a space company spun-off from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) in 2015. The company consists of professionals with a rich background in space specifically for the ground segment. With its exceptional technology and business model, CONTEC aims to go IPO in 2023. CONTEC is the first and only GSaaS (Ground Station as a Service) provider in South Korea who built a global network of ground stations. It provides total solution for satellite missions from data reception with ground stations to data processing and AI based data analysis. Additional information about CONTEC is accessible at www.contec.kr.
1 CCSDS: Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems
2 SDA: Space Development Agency
3 QKD: Quantum Key Distribution, a cryptographic protocol designed to establish a shared secret between two participants communicating over an insecure channel.