Artemis II to Stream High-Definition Moon Footage via Lasers.
The Artemis II mission, set to launch in late 2024, will be the first crewed lunar flight to demonstrate laser communications technology. The Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System will be capable of returning high-resolution images and video of the lunar surface back to Earth with a downlink rate of up to 260 megabits per second. The laser system will also be able to send and receive procedures, flight plans, voice messages, and other communications between the Orion spacecraft and mission control on Earth. Testing laser communications during Artemis II could lead to future technology that could travel across extreme distances in space, like preparing for future crewed missions to Mars.