Laser Light to Collaborate with Equinix for Optical Satellite

Optical satellite service provider Laser Light Communications has selected Equinix Inc. as its interconnection provider for a network that will combine spaced-based optics and terrestrial fiber-optic network infrastructure to create Space Cable, an optical satellite service.

The resulting All Optical Hybrid Global Network (HALO) will offer 100-Gbps connectivity to carriers, enterprises and government customers via Equinix facilities. Laser Light will establish its first point of presence at Equinix's DC11 International Business Exchange data center in Washington, D.C. The company will use that facility as an initial stepping stone toward installation, testing and demonstration of its capabilities, which will include not only laser communications, but software-defined WAN capabilities as well.

Laser Light will leverage eight to 12 satellites in medium Earth orbit to create a network that will offer an initial service capacity of 7.2 Tbps. The satellites will pass signals among themselves and to the ground via free-space optics. The space interconnections will include 48 links of 200 Gbps apiece, as well as 72 steerable up/down links to Earth at 100 Gbps. The company will complement the satellite network with its extended ground network of terrestrial fiber. Laser Light says it will leverage software-defined networking technology to fully leverage the network's spatial diversity for alternative routing to achieve the lowest latency, as well as select route options to circumvent any changing atmospheric conditions the satellite transmissions may encounter.

"We are excited to work with Laser Light as the interconnection provider for this cutting-edge satellite technology that greatly increases access to many parts of the world that are underserved by current fiber and wireless networks," said Ihab Tarazi, chief technology officer of Equinix. "By adding SpaceCable as an equivalent offering together with terrestrial and submarine cables, Equinix customers looking for low latency solutions to reach new or emerging markets will have access to a full suite of data transport options."