UK-based, Archangel Lightworks (Archangel) is building TERRA-M, a miniature & portable optical ground station, which enables secure, resilient & high-volume connectivity to & from space using laser-based communication (lasercom) (sometimes referred to as free space optics). (ps: on the secure-side, the startup closely collaborates with Singapore-based SpeQtral, which designs & manufacturers satellite-based quantum communication systems & provides it with end-to-end distribution of quantum encryption keys). <Quick primer on lasers: they can transfer 10-100x more info to & from satellites than radio waves (commonly used). They’re also cheaper (radio frequency spectrum is limited/ expensive) (lasers are license free) & safer from attacks and disruptions (e.g. a space-based lasercom internet won’t suffer from undersea cables linking continents being somehow damaged). In fact, belief in the superiority of lasercom is such that the US military – via SPACE-BACN – is planning to use them to build its own “military internet in LEO” (want to geek out some more? here’s a good overview of other lasercom initiatives in space)>. Now then, aside from Archangel, there’s several EU startups active in the field such Mynaric (DE) (IPO), Cailabs (FR) (€56m) & Craft Prospect (UK) (€1.5m) + EU majors such as Hensoldt, Airbus (via Tesat-Spacecom) & Thales (via Thales Alenia Space). Nevertheless, the uptake of lasercom is said to have been slowed by concerns around lack of interoperability standards & high production costs. Can Archangel be the unlock? For now, the startup is working with the UK Space Agency & ESA (from whom it won an initial €3.4m contract as part of the HALO Gateway Project) to begin testing its stations: the new funding will be spent on a series of demonstrators to show that Archangel’s lasers can move data between its ground station & a satellite (or another ground station). The firm is also rumored to have received business interest from aerospace primes like Lockheed Martin & Airbus. To do so, the firm expects to grow headcount from 7 to “at least 20”. Archangel Lightworks – led by Richard Johnson (CEO) & Owain Pryce-Jones (CTO) – was spun out in 2017 from Archangel Aerospace (a niche consultancy for high altitude pseudo satellite) – founded in 2010 by Daniel Sola. (bonus point: Archangel is a graduate of the US-based Catalyst Accelerator & the only European firm admitted to its Hybrid Data Movement cohort). <Source: bizjournals.com, slideshare.net, businessinnovationmag.co.uk, blog.executivebiz.com, sifted.eu>
