NASA's Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) demonstration has completed its final pass, although there is a chance the system might be reactivated in the second half of 2026.

Carried aboard NASA's Psyche mission, DSOC demonstrated how data encoded in lasers could be reliably transmitted, received, and decoded.

On September 2, the final communications pass was made from a distance of 2.34 AU ( Astronomical Unit [PDF]) or just under 350 million km (218 million miles).

12.4 Mbps was achieved, although the project's technologist, Abi Biswas, told The Register that this was amid partially cloudy skies. At 2.28 AU, Biswas said 20.8 Mbps was achieved with clear skies.

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