The 2026 Optical Fiber Communications Conference and Exhibition (OFC) will take place from 15 to 19 March in Los Angeles, USA. At the conference, Siegbert Martin, Tesat-Spacecom, Germany, will give a plenary entitled, “Optical Networks in Space—From Technology to Application.” He plans to discuss recent transformations in the communications industry due to an increase in optical networks in space. OPN spoke with Martin ahead of OFC for a preview.

Q. What do you plan to discuss in your talk at OFC?

An important point I will cover is the fundamental transformation we are seeing in the space industry. The transformation is on two levels. The first level involves interlinking all the satellites with each other, which is done with optical communication. The principle is the same as with glass fiber, but we take the fiber away.

The second is that historically the satellites were analog, but now they use digital systems. The complete technological transformation we saw 20 or 25 years ago in the terrestrial communication industry, we are now seeing in space, and this has changed everything. New companies are coming up, and traditional companies are leaving the market.

And at about this point in my talk, I’d like to explain what this means for the space industry and also for the communications industry more broadly. There are two different networks becoming connected—the terrestrial merging with the space network.

Q. Can you elaborate on the technological advances that led to these changes?

There are two drivers of these changes. First is the availability of laser terminals, which are systems for optical communication. These have already been available for more than 20 years, but in the last three to four years we’ve made a breakthrough to bring the cost down by technology innovation.

And the second is that we are now able to put processors with digital signal processing on satellites.  The performance of these satellites increases at a much lower cost.

Maybe a third reason is that there is a demand for an independent communication network. Many communication networks are based on terrestrial glass fiber. Currently, we are experiencing how valuable terrestrial glass fiber communication is. For example, glass fiber cables in the ocean or ground can be destroyed. We have had several such incidents here in Germany, which have shown us the need for an additional, more secure, resilient communication layer.

Q. How were costs brought down for satellite deployment?

We took existing terrestrial technology, made some modifications, and then launched it up to space. This technology is ready for high-volume production. Changing our mentality about how to design products was important. In former times, we thought we had to develop everything from scratch. Now, our first step is to look if there are suitable, good solutions already available.

“A lot of companies are coming into the business, and it’s becoming a new market where you can invest, where you get a return on investment and where you see growth.”
—Siegbert Martin

Q. Are there any downsides to the huge number of satellites currently being deployed?

I don’t see any at the moment. I see a big push in the industry and a lot of innovations. A lot of companies are coming into the business, and it’s becoming a new market where you can invest, where you get a return on investment and where you see growth.

We have many requests from companies who have never worked in space until now—quite recently, we started working together. When you increase production volume, you cannot do everything on your own anymore. You have to establish a secure supply chain, and there are new suppliers who are open to doing more business. At the moment, everything is looking positive.

Q. How does the privatization of the space industry affect advances in satellite communication, and what challenges does it pose?

Normally, with privatization, we see a lot of new spirit coming into the market. Things speed up—decisions become faster, and market volume grows faster. This is what we are seeing.

We believe in an open market where every company can bid and the best will get the contract. This is very positive for the industry. That also means that established companies might need to look for new partnerships; possibly new players will join the market.

Q. What are the advantages of laser-based communications over conventional radio frequency links?

 You have several advantages. One advantage is the data rate. With optical communication, it is easy to make a link with 100 gigabits per second. While with microwave communication, it is not possible to produce a 100-gigabit link due to limited frequency bandwidth.

Another advantage is that you don’t need a license if you use optical communication, but for microwave communication, you always need one.

A third advantage is that you can’t disturb the optical connectivity because you have a very small, narrow beam. This means you have very secure connectivity, and almost no one can listen to what you are communicating.

Q. And what are the challenges?

The challenge we’re seeing is bringing up the supply chain. Our company, for example, was producing one terminal per year just five years ago. Now we are producing one per day. And next year, we are doing five or 10 per day, so we are really ramping up this business. In addition, you have to establish new suppliers for each component to secure the production.

Q. What do you think the communications industry will look like in 10 years?

In 10 years, I believe that there will be several satellite constellations in space. It will be normal to have 5G and 6G nodes on satellites. I think we will have direct access to satellite constellations with our cellphones. There won’t be areas that lack connectivity. Everything will be more and more connected.

This is what I’m seeing more in the private sector. In the commercial industrial part, you’ll have very close tracking of your cars, containers, ships, trucks or e-bikes. You’ll always know where they are, and you can communicate with them directly via space connectivity.

Q. Is there anything you’d like our readers to know?

There’s one thing we need to change, and this is one of the challenges that we have. Currently, the space segment and the ground segment industries are widely separate. I believe these two industries need to work together much more closely to establish a new way of cooperation to extend our communication capability.

I’m coming from the space industry, but I also know terrestrial network technology because I worked several years for the European telecommunications providers Marconi Communication and Ericsson. Both sides need to learn how to work vertically together, from the bottom up to space. We need to merge them together to establish a secure and resilient communication network.