The vehicle-mounted optical ground station was shown earlier this year at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2025 held in Sydney, NSW.
IAC 2025 reportedly gathered more than 7,500 delegates from 99 countries to the International Convention Centre Sydney, including a Pacific delegation with ministerial representation from Cook Islands and Solomon Islands.
TeraNet’s three-node optical ground station network, developed by the University of Western Australia, supports secure and advanced communications for international space missions operating between low-Earth orbit and the moon.
Core capabilities of the system include:
- Rapid deployment (under 10 minutes) in remote and unvetted locations under a “shoot and scoot” style deployment strategy in contested environments.
- Daylight-capable optical tracking with bespoke procedures facilitating calibration down to approximately 1/1000th of a degree for precise acquisition of satellites, UAS and other airborne platforms.
- Low-probability of detection and interception of communications by operating in radio silent environments.
TN-3 can take advantage of algorithms developed in-house to remove dependence on existing GPS technology in order to calibrate and acquire air and space-based targets.
TN-3’s core optical system is also reportedly adaptable to different mission-specific requirements and vehicular platforms. It can reportedly facilitate space-to-ground or air-to-ground laser communications and strategic deployments for space situational awareness observations to address demand in government, defence and commercial sectors.