Laser focused on the future of satellite connectivity
11-02-2026
5-minute read
What to expect
The future of satellite communications is laser focused. As demand for connectivity continues to grow, Viasat and the European Space Agency are exploring how optical communications could unlock a new era of satellite networks, delivering unprecedented capacity, resilience, and reach. Find out how Viasat and AIDAN Next is pushing the boundaries of what's possible in space connectivity.
Engineering what's next in optical communications
When the ViaSat-3 constellation goes into full service later this year, it will mark a new era of high capacity, highly flexible geostationary (GEO) satellites. Both F2 and the recently launched F3 satellites are designed to power more than one terabit per second (Tbps) capacity each.
But that’s just the start. While these satellites could triple Viasat’s current network capacity, our sights are set on ‘what next?’ and something even larger: a multi-terabit, multi-orbit satellite network.
To achieve this ultra-high level of capacity and help bring the next generation of satellite communications into service, Viasat is working with the European Space Agency (ESA) on AIDAN Next.
AIDAN Next is Viasat's pioneering program in optical communications — transmitting data using laser beams rather than radio waves — both between satellites and from ground to satellite. AIDAN Next has the potential to reshape the bandwidth economics* and current architecture of satellite connectivity.
This program of work is a public-private partnership, with Viasat leading a consortium of 15 organizations from industry and academia — including six research partners from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Ireland, the UK, and Canada. In late 2025, these countries oversubscribed an additional US$50M on top of the existing program, underlining the importance and interest in the potential of optical communications in space.
Optical communications technology explained
Optical communications have been connecting us for decades. Fiberoptic cables deliver telecommunications services (like cable TV) and carry data across continents and under oceans. At ground and sea level, optical is global. What is new, and what AIDAN Next is pioneering, is scaling and powering up optical so it can do more of the same in space. Firing a laser beam from a ground station to a GEO satellite and from one satellite to another demands such precision over long distances that AIDAN Next is making terrestrial fiberoptics look relatively straightforward by comparison.
The complexity of the engineering challenges has a counterbalance: a robust bandwidth economics business case. First, the scale of increased network capacity of optical systems is a major value driver. Second, overall infrastructure efficiency and lower running costs — for example, optical hubs could be a fraction of the current footprint of ground stations.
As we learn how optical technology can open up a new frontier in space communications, on the journey to multi-terabit-per-second capacity (up to ten times that of ViaSat-3), AIDAN Next represents a new, reachable, and commercially viable horizon.
Inside AIDAN Next
As its name suggests, the program isn’t starting from scratch. An earlier Viasat/ESA collaboration — the original AIDAN project — developed ground technologies for the ViaSat-3 network.
This expertise is the foundation for designing AIDAN Next — the optical links, automation and AI systems, and architectures that will connect a multi-orbit network. Beyond scale and capacity, optical will also deliver robust connectivity to a wider range of locations and environments: remote, hostile, disrupted, congested, and spectrum-limited.
Stefano Vaccaro, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, explains: “AIDAN Next brings together the brightest minds to work out what the future of satellite technology looks like and where optical fits in. As the lead partner, our job is to keep up the pace of progress and innovation, so we can deliver on our part of the program.”
AIDAN Next is just one of the programs where Viasat and ESA are working together. Iris is modernizing data links for air traffic management across Europe. Moonlight aims to establish a lunar orbiting navigation and communications network. Each is a different dimension of the same long-term commitment to solving complex connectivity problems in partnership.
Aiming higher with AIDAN Next
Building the next generation of anything means navigating uncharted territory, which brings both excitement and expectations about what can be achieved. “There’s no blueprint and it’s vital we get the foundations right. That’s why we think of AIDAN Next as a complete end-to-end system innovation — this is the level of change and innovation required to bring optical satellite technology to market,” adds Francesca.
That’s why we think of AIDAN Next as a complete end-to-end system innovation.
A key element and one of the most fascinating challenges is the optical feeder link. This connects ground stations with GEO satellites at 35,786 km above Earth. Maintaining a stable, precise connection is very demanding at that distance and dwarfs anything that laser PAT (pointing, acquisition and tracking) has been tested against on the ground.
The program is breaking academic boundaries too and includes PhD-level research material. For instance, some of the team is trying to understand exactly how atmospheric turbulence and weather impact, interrupt, and distort a laser link. Turbulence in particular is difficult to predict and hard to model, so the team is testing designs at a variety of ground stations and partnering with industrial and academic experts.
Industrial application is as critical as research. The team is designing a fully operational, commercially viable, end-to-end system while keeping an eye on regulation, automation and robustness of operations, budgets, scalability, and manufacturability.
Alongside this, AIDAN Next is engineering inter-satellite links and coordinating effort across six partners. All of this wider program work demands as much from the team as calculating the physics and characteristics of space lasers.
The people and the pace
What makes AIDAN Next such a dynamic program is the speed at which the landscape around it is shifting. Today, technologies that were expected to take years are materializing faster than ever.
The team’s multi-disciplinary approach to every engineering, commercial, regulatory, and operational challenge is based on a long-term view and assuming the current approach will not be the final one. This pace and unpredictability also make for the kind of work that attracts people who are as motivated about asking the right questions as they are about finding the right answers.
As Francesca sums up, “Optical in space is truly groundbreaking, and it’s happening as the ground is moving under our feet. So, every day we stay on track by asking ourselves: Are we going at the right pace? Are we doing the right things in the right way? Are we thinking far enough ahead?”
The future of satellite communications is shaping up: the direction is clear, the partnerships are in place, and the work of AIDAN Next is laser focused.
Light work
A guide to optical satellite communications terms
The technology
Optical communications
A family of technologies that use light — typically laser beams — to transmit data. For AIDAN Next, this includes ground-to-satellite (optical feeder link), satellite-to-satellite (inter-satellite), and potential future evolutions of satellite-to-device and deep space.
Optical feeder link
The laser connection between a ground station and a satellite in GEO orbit must have pinpoint accuracy over 36,000 km and through Earth’s atmosphere.
PAT (pointing, acquisition and tracking)
The precision engineering challenge of locating, locking onto, and maintaining a laser link between two objects tens of thousands of kilometers apart.
The network
GEO and NGSO
Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites sit at a fixed point relative to the Earth. Non-GEO orbit satellites, including Low Earth Orbit (LEO), move relative to the Earth's surface. AIDAN Next is working at all altitudes.
Optical inter-satellite link
Laser communications between satellites enabling high-capacity data routing directly in orbit, reducing dependence on ground infrastructure.
Hybrid satellite network
A system that combines multiple satellite orbits and terrestrial networks, switching seamlessly between them to deliver resilient, flexible connectivity.
The business
Bandwidth economics
The cost of delivering a gigabit of data is the equation satellite operators survive by. Reducing that cost through network efficiency, higher capacity, and smarter infrastructure is a commercial driver of AIDAN Next.
Multi-orbit resiliency
Multi-orbit optical networks enable operations in challenging locations and environments. High-performance links with reduced SWaP requirements support seamless global connectivity and strengthen overall mission assurance.
Beamforming
Focusing a signal into a directed beam (rather than broadcasting in multiple directions) is set to reduce interference and optimize network capacity.