NASA done the farthest-ever laser communication, or laser data transmission between Earth and Psyche probe.

   NASA done the farthest-ever laser communication, or laser data transmission between Earth and Psyche probe. 

Laser data transmission test over ten million miles. That is over about 16 million kilometers. The laser communication between probes and Earth is a promising communication tool. 

Laser communication systems are less sensitive to radio disturbances than radios. That's why the military is interested in laser communication.

The high-power laser communication system can have two lasers that operate at different frequencies. The system sends data using TCT/IP protocol like the Internet. Data packages will be sent by using different wavelengths. 

The ability to use two lasers increases the transmission speed.  Every data package is marked with the serial number. The receiver collects them together using those serial numbers to connect data into one entirety. 

Another thing that makes lasers good tools is that the probe can connect missions of those systems. The laser systems can be used to vaporize the surfaces of the asteroids. And that helps to make the spectroscopy research about the surface of the asteroids. But the same laser system can also communicate with the control center.  The key element is that lasers can be used for multiple missions. 

They can measure altitudes, and vaporize an asteroid's surface material for spectroscopic analyses and the same system can communicate with the control station. The high-power communication lasers can also protect the spacecraft against the small icy particles. If the laser system shoots the ice bite it vaporizes its shell and that changes its direction. And that can deny the impact. 

"NASA’s DSOC (Deep Space Optical Communications) experiment, aboard the Psyche spacecraft, has successfully demonstrated the farthest-ever optical communication using a near-infrared laser from 10 million miles away. This milestone, managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, marks a significant advancement in space communication technology, promising higher data transmission rates for future deep space missions. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech." (ScitechDaily.com/10 Million Miles Away: NASA Achieves Historic Data Exchange With Deep Space Optical Communications Experiment)

The lasers can increase the power of ion thrusters. 

In some visions, high-power lasers can be used as a power source for the thruster. The laser ray vaporizes material like some gas or metal powder that expands and the expanding material pushes spacecraft forward. So laser can be used to vaporize material like metals for the ion engines. And in that case, the same laser can keep communication contact with Earth. 

The laser engines base an idea. The rocket uses a laser ray for making expansion in propellant. That pushes craft forward. And that kind of laser-ion engine's propellant can be methane ice or some metal like mercury. The system can drive metal vapor through the ion engine. But the laser engine can also use non-magnetic materials that it vaporizes. And if the system requires more power it can ionize that material. Then it drives that material through the magnetic acceleration lines.  

High-power lasers can also clean things like Earth orbiter py pushing debris into the Earth's atmosphere. The high-orbiter or geostationary satellites. The high-power communication lasers also can be used as laser weapons. So the difference between communication and laser weapons is not as big as we hope. The geostationary satellites that have high-power lasers can clean debris from orbiting trajectories. But the same systems can also destroy satellites. 

https://scitechdaily.com/10-million-miles-away-nasa-achieves-historic-data-exchange-with-deep-space-optical-communications-experiment/

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/deep-space-optical-communications-dsoc/