With the advent of small-sats and the flourishing new space economy, private participation is ever growing. Small-sats can now serve applications such as earth observation, asset tracking, experimental and academic missions at a fraction of the cost. ; As more and more constellation operators adopt small sat platforms for their business, they run into satellite data bottlenecks on existing radio-frequency systems. Over 25,000 smallsats are expected to be launched by 2030 and sole RF downlink systems are straining under the data demand, spectrum allocation and coordination issues.; Astrogate’s laser communication system solves these bottlenecks and enables satellites to return over 10x data at nearly half the cost of existing RF systems.

Astrogate Labs pioneers high-speed data transmission using laser beams, exceeding 1 Gbps through free-space optical communication. Utilizing a laser transmitter on satellites and a ground receiver, their system relies on precision pointing and tracking to maintain laser focus. The proprietary satellite laser downlink terminal fits small-satellite SWaP constraints. The compact optical ground station, with minimal infrastructure needs, ensures easy installation and operation. Astrogate Labs stands out by providing an end-to-end solution, combining satellite hardware and an optical ground station, uniquely catering to the niche field of laser communication.