The next bandwidth frontier is in orbit.
Coherent DWDM optical engines for the next generation of space infrastructure. A systems-level approach to capacity, link margin, power and integration economics.
More data. Less hardware.
In terrestrial networks, WDM turned one optical fiber into many independent high-capacity lanes. SpaceWDM is studying how that architectural advantage can translate into free-space laser terminals.
Illustrative channel grid, not a measured source or a flight-qualified frequency comb.
Parallel wavelengths
Independent optical carriers aggregated through a common free-space optical path.
Compact optical engine
Source, modulation, mux/demux, sensing, and interfaces optimized as an OEM subsystem.
Made to qualify
Power, thermal behavior, radiation response, packaging, and manufacturing yield drive the architecture.
Not another terminal. The engine inside.
The first commercial hypothesis is an integrable photonic module for the optical-communications terminal manufacturers who already own telescopes, tracking hardware and spacecraft buses.
LinkLab 02
Test whether an optical-engine concept closes the physics, capacity and engineering trade space. Compare channel architectures, identify failure conditions, and export reproducible assumptions. This is a decision screen, not a flight-performance claim.
v0.2 · scenario trade study + reproducible link budget · not experimental validation
Can this design earn its mass and power?
Architecture decision screen. Every SWaP/cost figure below is driven by transparent planning assumptions, not vendor quotations.
Select an architecture for a reproducible comparison.
This Monte Carlo passing fraction is not a prediction of operational availability or BER; it omits acquisition, weather, jitter spectrum, Doppler and receiver impairments.
The decision rule
- Capacity: Can the chosen channel/FEC assumptions reach 10 Tb/s ideal net?
- Physics: Does the selected optical geometry meet the assumed receiver threshold with margin?
- SWaP: How many watts per nominal delivered bit at the assumed DSP architecture?
- Economics: What nominal BOM is implied by channel count? Does the architecture minimize the cost of testing the thesis?
A physics-first path to orbit.
Hardware is a sequence of falsifiable experiments. The link budget is the beginning, not the evidence of flight performance.
Software + sourcing
Validate assumptions, compare optical architectures, secure customer feedback and instrument access.
Model / interviewsBench demonstration
Demonstrate multi-channel coherent or IM/DD lab link with measured OSNR, BER and thermal behavior.
400G aggregate goalOptical engine
Move into integrated optics, packaging, realistic power and industrial test workflows.
1–2T lab design targetQualification + scale
Customer-specific environmental qualification and eventual multi-terabit flight hardware, if funded.
10T stretch goalBuilt by someone who has worked on both sides of the optical network.
Founded by Lloyd E. Clark, PhD, with hands-on Ciena DWDM and fiber-optics experience, Tellium technical training, and a career spanning cybersecurity, defense mission systems and AI.
SpaceWDM brings telecom-grade engineering discipline to optical networking problems in space. A planned two-student MIT founding research team would extend that into integrated photonics and communications DSP.
Hiring two MIT student researchers.
One integrated-photonics specialist. One coherent-link DSP and simulation specialist. Both roles are proposed, not staffed.
Discuss joining the research team ↗The right partner changes the trajectory.
We're looking for optical-terminal OEM design partners, photonics researchers, development partners and early-stage deep-tech investors. Share a real requirement and we will scope a measurable evaluation.