The French Response To Starlink Laser Technologies In Low Orbit

To avoid remaining a spectator of the megaconstellation boom, a market largely dominated by Starlink, France has pulled a new card up its sleeve: LUCI (Liaison Ultra Compact Inter-satellite). A miniature laser terminal developed by Oledcomm, a French specialist in optical communications, with the support of CNES as part of the France 2030 plan.

It will allow European satellites to communicate with each other without going through the ground, an essential technological standard since Starlink popularized optical communications as the backbone of its networks. Each of the satellites orbiting in Starlink’s constellations is a node, connecting information instantly to its neighbors, creating a high-performance and responsive laser mesh.

It is thanks to this innovative architecture that Starlink is today queen of this sector, and it is this communication capacity that LUCI intends to give to future European constellations. A way of place a sovereign hand on a technology that has become centralso that Europe is not condemned to borrow the standards defined by others.

Why can Europe no longer ignore inter-satellite laser links?

A megaconstellation is only effective if the satellites that compose it can communicate with each other, without discontinuity, using laser beams. Starlink figured it out before anyone else, but Europe cannot simply copy its modeladapted only to its gigantic network.

LUCI is a much more compact and less energy-consuming terminaldesigned to be attached to the lighter satellite fleets that Europe wants to deploy in the years to come. A completely opposite positioning, which convinced CNES, since Europe must build its constellations on industrial bases compatible with its own constraints. LUCI, through its compactness and energy efficiency, can be carried on dozens or hundreds of satellites without major overhaul of the machines.

Another reason why CNES selected Oledcomm is because LUCI responds to the most sensitive imperative of the moment: sovereignty. In megaconstellations, the laser terminal is the crux of the matter to ensure that communications do not depend on an external actor, whether industrial or state.

Today it is impossible for Europe continues to outsource this technology to American solutionsin the long term, it is untenable. We imagine that this is the reason why the LUCI project will be punctuated by a particularly tight schedulein just two steps. During the first, “ until July 2026 ”, Oledcomm will focus on “ consolidation of technical specifications and preliminary detailed definition of the system, and removal of major technical and industrial risks “. The second step will follow “ mid-2026 to 2028 », covering the complete industrial development and the qualification campaign in the space environment. The final objective being the provision of a “ first flight model from 2028 “. So, yes, it’s very fast, but it’s the minimum pace to maintain if you want to stop to follow Starlink in optical technologies.