BridgeSat has announced an agreement with Draper Laboratory to support the development of the ground stations that are an integral part of BridgeSat's optical connectivity system. This optical connectivity system will improve the transfer of data from satellites and high-altitude unmanned vehicles (UAVs), by removing the barriers that currently exist with radio frequency spectrum for carrying large volumes of data from space to the ground.

Draper's research team, led by Draper's Director of Space Services Seamus Tuohy, has developed technology that will be used by BridgeSat for ground station operations, task automation, and efficient data delivery. This agreement will facilitate the development of BridgeSat's laser communications receivers and data processing centers that provide rapid, optimal and secure data transmissions.

"Our collaboration with Draper positions us to offer a unique ground-processing architecture to handle the dramatically increasing amount of data being transmitted from low earth orbit," said John Serafini, co-General Manager of BridgeSat, who is also a Vice President at its parent company, Allied Minds (LSE: ALM).

"Laser communications will open the door to a variety of new sources of data that the U.S. government and businesses will use to make critical decisions," said Draper's Tuohy. "Draper's experience in automating functions on spacecraft like the International Space Station, as well as our precision-pointing and tracking expertise, will help take this technology from the realm of experimentation into daily operational use."

BridgeSat has designed an optical connectivity system that aims to improve the wireless transfer of data from satellites. The system provides an alternative transmission mechanism that is designed to be faster, more secure and available at a lower cost to traditional radio frequency systems, while meeting the constrained size, weight and power requirements inherent with small satellite operations.