- Greenland’s geographic location in the Arctic makes it a key hub for low-Earth orbit satellite communications.
- Laser communications offer faster data transfer and greater resistance to jamming than radio
- Astrolight builds optical ground stations to support civil, commercial and military networks
Greenland has been in the news lately, after President Donald Trump renewed his calls for the United States to take control of the territory. But beyond politics, the Arctic region is also attracting attention for a very different reason: its growing importance for space and military communications.
This strategic value is closely linked to satellites, lasers and geography, and according to European laser communications start-up Astrolight, Greenland’s location near the North Pole makes it particularly valuable to modern satellite networks.
Talk to AZoOptiqueLaurynas Maciulis, co-founder and CEO of Astrolight, said Greenland plays a key role in how low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites move around the planet.
Military use
“Greenland is strategically valuable for LEO pass geometry because its proximity to the North Pole allows frequent passes of polar-orbiting satellites that provide global coverage,” he explained, adding that its position near the magnetic pole also makes it useful for monitoring space weather.
Astrolight focuses on laser communications, which uses tightly focused beams of light instead of traditional radio signals. This offers several practical advantages over radio frequency systems.
“Laser communication solves many practical problems related to the use of radio frequencies,” Maciulis said. “It bypasses the crowded radio frequency spectrum,” while enabling much higher data rates and providing strong resistance to jamming and spoofing.
The company has already gone beyond testing. Maciulis said Astrolight recently signed a contract with the European Space Agency to build the first optical ground station (OGS) in Greenland, aimed at accelerating the return of satellite data for uses such as disaster response and geointelligence.
Laser communications are also attracting attention in military settings, where radio transmissions can reveal the location of troops.
In a separate report from News from the BFBS forcesAstrolight’s Peter Stensgård-Hansen described his own experience using radios during his military service.
“I’ve died so many times in my nine months of service because as soon as I press that radio, it’s a big ‘Hello, this is battalion command.’ I’ve been bombed to bits.”
Laser links are much more difficult to detect or disrupt. “It’s just a free space, a very narrow beam that transmits only from a very narrow path from transmitter to receiver,” Stensgård-Hansen said.
NATO has tested laser systems in recent exercises as part of efforts to improve communications resilience.
“The idea of establishing a position in Greenland arose from our experience with NATO… we need to expand our global space infrastructure,” Stensgård-Hansen said.
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