Tesat-Spacecom (TESAT), the global leader in optical communication technologies for space, is expanding its manufacturing footprint into the United States to support its U.S. government and commercial customers.

With more than 500,000 hours of operation and 10 Optical Communication Terminals (OCTs) in space, TESAT is the only provider worldwide for in-orbit-verified OCTs. As the market leader for space communication equipment, TESAT is setting-up manufacturing operations in the U.S. to meet the growing demand for OCTs from the U.S. Government and the commercial space industry. TESAT is currently providing OCTs for four different U.S. spacecraft primes in support of the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Transport Layer and Tracking Layer and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Blackjack program.

“We are in final negotiations for a facility in the U.S. up to 25,000 square feet and intend to start manufacturing our Optical Communications Terminals there in early 2023. Together with our established global supply chain we are well prepared for a production rate of 160 affordable constellation OCTs per month and are already designing the next generation of 100 Gpbs terminals”, says Matthias Motzigemba, Director of Laser Communication at TESAT.

As the pioneer of optical communication technology in space, TESAT is working as an active member of the SDA interoperability working group. Its ConLCT80 is compliant to the current SDA OCT standard V3.0 and can be delivered off the shelf.