A 2-watt laser on a geostationary satellite delivered a 1 Gbps downlink to Earth from 36,000 km away. The AO-MDR system combines Adaptive Optics and Mode Diversity Reception to overcome atmospheric turbulence. The ground receiver used an 1.8-meter telescope with a 357-actuator deformable mirror to correct wavefront distortions. After AO correction, the beam was split…
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Geostationary orbit sits at about 35,786 km above the equator and completes a sidereal day (~23h56m), so satellites appear fixed over one longitude; Arthur C. Clarke popularized it in 1945, giving the region the nickname the Clarke Belt. A GEO satellite remains stationary relative to the ground, allowing ground antennas to point at a fixed…
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