← No. 017 FRI 16 OCT 2026

A spacecraft spoke to Earth from beyond Mars.

DSOC

NASA’s DSOC laser‑communications demo, flown on the Psyche mission, ended on September 2, 2025 with results in hand: 65 passes, 13.6 terabits received at Earth, and a record laser downlink from 307 million miles—farther than Mars ever gets from Earth. It also reached its top rate by streaming ultra‑HD video at 267 megabits per second and finished with a two‑way laser link from 218 million miles.

Why it’s interesting

Fig. 017 Beams from a small craft converge on Earth; the bold path marks the record beyond‑Mars pass, and the figure encodes 13.6 terabits received.

Why it’s interesting

It shows that clear, high‑rate links are possible from truly deep space—not just nearby probes. That reframes what future missions might send home, from richer science to live‑feeling video, if the ground and flight optics are built for it.

The longer version

NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications demo rode on the Psyche spacecraft to test sending data by laser instead of radio across interplanetary space. The team aimed tight near‑infrared beams at specialized ground telescopes to prove higher‑rate links are possible over vast distances.

NASA’s final report says DSOC completed 65 passes and wrapped on September 2, 2025. Over the campaign, ground stations received 13.6 terabits. Milestones included an ultra‑HD video streamed at the system’s peak rate from about 19 million miles (Dec 11, 2023); a record downlink at 307 million miles, beyond the farthest Earth–Mars separation (Dec 3, 2024); and a closing two‑way laser link at 218 million miles.

Edition: No. 017
Date: Friday 16 October 2026
Subject: DSOC
Period: September 2, 2025
Field: space
Evidence: 4 sources, 4 primary

See how we got here

Found after 19 research paths · Selected from 6 candidates

01 Space messaging We talk to probes with light or radio.
02 Laser links Lasers send tightly focused beams.
03 Psyche ridealong DSOC flew on NASA’s Psyche mission.
04 DSOC passes 65 test contacts to ground telescopes.
05 Beyond‑Mars test A downlink from 307 million miles.
06 Final tally 13.6 terabits received; demo ended Sept 2, 2025.
→ A spacecraft spoke to Earth from beyond Mars.

Sources

Nothing publishes without independent sources. How we verify →

1
NASA’s Deep Space Communications Demo Exceeds Project Expectations
NASA · 2025 · government Primary

Confirms the 65th and final pass from 218 million miles and the total 13.6 Tb received; recaps the Dec. 3, 2024 307‑million‑mile downlink and Dec. 11, 2023 267 Mbps video.

nasa.gov
2
Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) | Mission page
NASA (JPL) · 2026 · government Primary

States DSOC concluded on Sept. 2, 2025; cites total 13.6 Tb received and a 307‑million‑mile (494‑million‑km) downlink (beyond the farthest Earth‑Mars distance).

jpl.nasa.gov
3
NASA’s Tech Demo Streams First Video From Deep Space via Laser
NASA (JPL) · 2023 · government Primary

Details the Dec. 11, 2023 ultra‑HD video streamed at the system’s maximum 267 Mbps from ~19 million miles.

jpl.nasa.gov
4
NASA’s Laser Comms Demo Makes Deep Space Record, Completes First Phase
NASA (JPL) · 2024 · government Primary

Describes performance milestones, including achieving the system’s maximum 267 Mbps and multi‑terabit downlinks during the first phase.

jpl.nasa.gov

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