On October 8, 2026, Lithuanian optical technology firm Astrolight, alongside the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), announced the successful commissioning of an end-to-end space-to-ground laser communication link.
Technical Specifications and Flight Link Metrics
The optical link connected Astrolight’s ATLAS-1 laser communication terminal aboard the ERMIS-3 nanosatellite to the upgraded OGS-2.5 optical ground station in Holomondas, Greece. Operated remotely from Astrolight’s facility in Lithuania, the system achieved first light during its initial orbital pass and transitioned to routine 1 Gbps downlinks within one week, with link budget capacity supporting up to 10 Gbps.
Operating two pre-scheduled passes daily across daytime and nighttime conditions, the link maintained closed-loop tracking below 10 degrees elevation and demonstrated link availability above 85% for passes above 15 degrees. In accordance with Space Development Agency (SDA) standards, the terminal re-acquired interrupted optical signals in under 10 milliseconds without a beam-scanning step.
Program Heritage and National Space Initiatives
The ERMIS-3 and PeakSat missions were funded via the European Recovery Fund “Greece 2.0” and the Hellenic Ministry of Digital Governance, with oversight from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Hellenic Space Center. The flight validation builds upon earlier optical ground station infrastructure deployments at Holomondas following the spacecraft’s orbital deployment on SpaceX’s Transporter-16 rideshare launch, supporting broader connectivity objectives under Greece’s national space programme.
Executive Leadership Perspective
“Astrolight is among the first companies to autonomously operate an end-to-end laser communication link using its own systems in orbit and on the ground, attended purely remotely from the moment of installation,” said Dalius Petrulionis, CTO and Co-Founder of Astrolight. “Proving that our space and ground systems have this capability brings us closer to making optical connectivity practical for commercial missions at scale.”
Hardware Roadmap and Optical Network Expansion
In addition to its Mediterranean ground segment operations, Astrolight is developing an Arctic optical ground station in Greenland in cooperation with ESA. The company is qualifying its next-generation ATLAS-2 and ATLAS-X-MINI terminals—capable of data transmission rates up to 2.5 Gbps—ahead of upcoming flight demonstrations, while advancing its high-capacity ATLAS-X terminal for commissioning aboard ESA’s HydRON multi-orbit network program in 2028–2029.
