Astrolight Space Lasers Promise Unjammable Communications at Sea

Successfully field-testing undetectable, unjammable ship-to-ship laser links during NATO naval exercises, Astrolight’s POLARIS long-range lasers will allow fleets to remain in constant contact while maintaining radio silence.

Astrolight spun-off from Lithuania’s Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology (FTMC) in 2019. The company initially developed its long-range laser technology to support ground-to-satellite and deep space communications.

Communication Via Light

Communicating with the heavens via light rather than radio waves overcomes growing radio interference as orbit becomes increasingly crowded. It also has the added benefit of transmitting data up to 10 times faster than radio links.

Unlike radio, point-to-point optical communications are unjammable, as long as the points maintain line-of-sight. Unlike radio, optical communications can be undetectable at low power levels. Using wavelengths that minimize atmospheric scattering ensures the laser beam remains invisible to others.

In a region of the world where hostile nations regularly jam GPS, aviation and civilian infrastructure, the Lithuanian navy invited Astrolight to apply its laser technology to naval communications.

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Naval Communications

Radio jamming attacks are among the most serious threats in naval operations. They can potentially cutting ship-to-ship communication, disable navigation and leave fleets exposed in contested waters. The result was a communication solution designed for laser links between large naval vessels, as well as smaller unmanned surface vehicles.

Astrolight was selected as one of the top 10 innovators in NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator (DIANA) program. The company also received an investment of up to €300,000.

A space-age reimagining of the age-old concept of signal lamps flashing Morse code between ships at sea, Astrolight’s POLARIS offers encrypted gigabit-per-second data connections.

While POLARIS is perfectly suited to “radio denied environments” like naval battlefields, laser communications can quickly establish fast and reliable links in almost any situation. According to Astrolight co-founder and CTO Dalius Petrulionis:

“I think it is most useful for its stealth and resistance to electronic warfare, but it is a dual-use technology that has potential for civilian applications, such as disaster recovery when infrastructure is destroyed. The technology basically lets you quickly establish a fibre optic connection between two points without the need to actually lay fibre.”

NATO Naval Exercises

During recent NATO naval exercises in the Baltic Sea, Astrolight’s teams spent two weeks living and working aboard Portuguese Navy ships, installing and field-testing POLARIS laser terminals. The terminals rely on a gimbal for stabilization, along with an optical feedback system to compensate for ship movement.

“Our teams established reliable ship-to-ship communications across 15 km, exceeding our initial performance and robustness targets by operating in fog and rain without significant impediment, which is usually a problem for optical communication,” Petrulionis says.

While POLARIS is a point-to-point technology, it can support mesh networking by installing multiple terminals on a ship to provide 360-degree coverage. High-speed laser mesh coverage would allow fleets to maintain communication and aggregate passive radar data for better visibility when operating in radio silence.

“From what we observed in testing, in terms of stabilization and power levels, I think it might be eventually possible to create a ship-to-satellite link to further help fleets stay in contact while maintaining stealth,” Petrulionis says.

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