SES will evaluate new optical ground stations from France-based Cailabs to move space data using laser rather than radio signals. The company aims to lift throughput, harden link security, and ease congestion across increasingly crowded radio frequency bands by tapping optical communications.
The effort advances space laser links that can reach up to 10 gigabits per second, roughly 100 tim by Erica Marchand
Paris, France (SPX) Sep 17, 2025
SES will evaluate new optical ground stations from France-based Cailabs to move space data using laser rather than radio signals. The company aims to lift throughput, harden link security, and ease congestion across increasingly crowded radio frequency bands by tapping optical communications.
The effort advances space laser links that can reach up to 10 gigabits per second, roughly 100 times typical home internet speeds. Because tightly focused light beams are difficult to intercept or jam, SES sees strong potential for secure government and commercial connectivity.
Atmospheric turbulence remains the primary hurdle for space-to-ground lasers, which can cause beam scintillation and loss. Cailabs addresses this with Multi-Plane Light Conversion, an approach akin to adaptive eyewear that reshapes and stabilizes the wavefront to keep signals coherent through moving air.
"Our Optical Ground Station technology, already field-proven with a variety of satellites and terminals, offers top performance in mitigating atmospheric turbulence and maintaining resilient communications, while delivering features that are essential for secure communications in today's most demanding environments," said Jean-Francois Morizur, CEO of Cailabs.
The TILBA-OGS L10 stations will let SES start space-to-ground testing ahead of potential commercial integration. Each site supports full duplex 10 Gbps operation and remote control, enabling scalable deployment across a global gateway network.
"Optical communication can provide much higher bandwidth, better data security, and less risk of spectrum congestion," said Carmel Ortiz, SVP of MEO Programs at SES. "The Cailabs Optical Ground Stations can play a central role in our global network of gateways with access to high-throughput infrastructure."
Radio has dominated space links since the 1960s, but spectrum crowding and interference are rising as satellite fleets expand. By shifting to light, optical systems open new spectrum and offer low probability of intercept, low probability of detection, and low probability of exploitation.
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