--- title: NASA Is Using a Giant Laser to Transmit Videos From Space description: NASA has begun using a specialized laser to transfer high-definition video from the International Space Station canonical: https://time.com/2843748/nasa-laser-videos-space/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-07T18:58:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:57:23.922Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA Is Using a Giant Laser to Transmit Videos From Space og:description: NASA has begun using a specialized laser to transfer high-definition video from the International Space Station og:url: https://time.com/2843748/nasa-laser-videos-space/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b630d3ff8c7fee8/698696a4d0b6f29d5b304c33/screen-shot-2014-06-07-at-2-56.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: NASA OPAL og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA Is Using a Giant Laser to Transmit Videos From Space twitter:description: NASA has begun using a specialized laser to transfer high-definition video from the International Space Station twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b630d3ff8c7fee8/698696a4d0b6f29d5b304c33/screen-shot-2014-06-07-at-2-56.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NASA Is Using a Giant Laser to Transmit Videos From Space > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=4e2dc26f-2448-4263-bc54-85859a3962f3&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: NASA's OPALS Beams Video from Space [Watch (HLS stream): NASA's OPALS Beams Video from Space](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Y5SXYNkh.m3u8) (1:42)  _Published 2014-06-06. NASA beams_ by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 7, 2014 6:58 PM UTC NASA beams by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 7, 2014 6:58 PM UTC NASA has begun using a specialized laser to transfer high-definition video from the International Space Station, an innovation that will allow the agency to transfer information from space much more rapidly than it’s currently capable of doing. The technology uses a focused beam modulated from a 2.5 Watt, 1,550-nanometer laser to transmit information through space, NASA said. The laser increases the speed at which information is transmitted from 10 to 1,000 times over current radio transmissions from space. On Thursday, the agency transferred a 175-megabit video from space to the ground in 3.5 seconds. NASA likened the innovation to an upgrade from dial-up to DSL. “It’s incredible to see this magnificent beam of light arriving from our tiny payload on the space station,” Matt Abrahamson, the mission’s manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, [said in a statement](http://www.nasa.gov/mission%5Fpages/station/research/news/opals%5Fbeams%5Fvideo/#.U5NQNpRdVTN). ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:07] The OPAL's payload will transmit a high definition video [00:10] from the space station down to the ground on a laser [00:12] beam. We do this by using a telescope, high above Los [00:15] Angeles, in the Sanger Mountain. So, we come down on [00:18] a 2 and a half watt laser from a payload called the [00:19] Opal's payload up on the space station. The file will [00:23] transmit over a fiber optics cable on the beam, back to [00:26] the ground station on Table Mountain. From this [00:28] location, we will illuminate the international space [00:31] station with a laser beam. Once the beacon received, [00:34] the Opal's payload points back at the ground station, [00:36] and will modulate a signal for laser beam back to the [00:38] ground. We collect an enormous amount of data out in [00:42] space, we need to get it all to the ground. And so this [00:44] is an alternative that is much faster than our traditional [00:47] radio waves that we use to communicate to the [00:49] ground. And so with this demonstration we are paving [00:51] the way for the future of communications to and from [00:53] space. So we have a special message now from the [00:56] International Space Station it's our first message called, [00:58] Hello World. An homage to the first output of any [01:02] standard computer program. Let's take a look at it [01:04] now. It's the story of an endless search to serve [01:09] the communications needs of America. Why the hurry? [01:14] Here is modern telegraphy at work. Sending and [01:16] receiving, in facsimile. [ NOISE ] This [01:21] is information may I help you? The [01:26] needs of today keeps pace with the temple of a fast [01:29] moving H. 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