Hawaii will play host to NASA's new laser communications system, built on the grounds of the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems. The tech will also allow easier communication with the International Space Station.
Highly focused beams of light, lasers can carry more information and without the loss of signal strength that happens with radio waves. This will come in handy when NASA wants to communicate with satellites or with the new Orion spacecraft during demonstrations. It's meant to establish a faster and more reliable communications system between the ground and space than traditional radio.
Work on the LCRD has now been approved and construction will begin soon in Hawaii. The project will come in phases. First, the Advanced Weather Ground Station will use lasers to make precise measurements of weather systems, cloud cover, and turbulence. Then comes the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration, which will test relays to other ground stations, as well as communicate with the ISS and Orion. These will pave the way for the more permanent facility, the Long-Term Laser Optical Ground Station.
The Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration helped prove the efficacy of laser communication back in 2013 when it beamed messages to the LADEE lunar orbiter. After locking on, the orbiter reflected back beams of information from the lasers, setting data transmission records with a rate of 622 megabytes per second.