SatEnlight at COAT 2025 | Optical Communications

From 7 to 9 April 2025, SatEnlight took part in COAT 2025 - Communications and Observations through Atmospheric Turbulence, hosted by the DLR Institute of Communications and Navigation in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.

The workshop brought together more than 150 researchers and experts working on one of the central challenges for free-space optical communications: understanding and mitigating the effects of atmospheric turbulence on optical propagation.

SatEnlight contributed to the event with research focused on Orbital Angular Momentum, structured light and their application to free-space optical communication systems.

Mirko Siano presented the study “Experimental Study of the Effects of Air Turbulence on the Local Phase Properties of OAM Beams”, while SatEnlight CEO Matteo Vismara presented “Laser-Based Orbital Angular Momentum Multiplexing for Free Space Optical Communication: A Proof of Concept for Enhanced Data Transmission in Turbulent Outdoor Environments.”

For SatEnlight, participation in COAT 2025 represented another step in the transition from fundamental research towards communication technologies capable of operating outside controlled laboratory conditions.

Atmospheric turbulence remains one of the main challenges for long-range optical links, particularly for ground-to-space communications. Understanding how structured light behaves under these conditions is therefore an essential part of SatEnlight’s technology development.

COAT 2025 provided an opportunity not only to present the latest results, but also to exchange technical feedback with the international research community working on the future of optical communications.