System and Method of Satellite Communication

A method comprising:

• receiving, by a spacecraft having at least one or more optical space terminals and a space switch unit, a plurality of encoded data frames by a forward channel RX of one optical space terminal from a counterpart forward channel TX of a respective optical ground terminal at a data rate of 1 terabits-per-second (Tbps) or above via multiple forward channels through air/vacuum, wherein the respective optical ground terminal is paired with the optical space terminal for data communication, and the encoded data frames are encoded by the counterpart forward channel TX of the respective optical ground terminal;
• decoding, by the spacecraft, the plurality of encoded data frames by the forward channel RX of the optical space terminal;
• regenerating, by the spacecraft, a plurality of data packets based on the plurality of decoded data frames by the space switch unit, wherein the data packets are at a layer of data-link or higher;
• and
• routing, by the spacecraft, the regenerated data packets to another optical space terminal by the space switch unit, wherein another optical space terminal is paired with another optical ground terminals for data communication.

One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed, by a spacecraft having at least one or more optical space terminals and a space switch unit, to:

• receive a plurality of encoded data frames by a forward channel RX of one optical space terminal from a counterpart forward channel TX of a respective optical ground terminal at a data rate of 1 terabits-per-second (Tbps) or above via multiple forward channels through air/vacuum, wherein the respective optical ground terminal is paired with the optical space terminal for data communication, and the encoded data frames are encoded by the counterpart forward channel TX of the respective optical ground terminal;
• decode the plurality of encoded data frames by the forward channel RX of the optical space terminal;
• regenerate a plurality of data packets based on the plurality of decoded data frames by the space switch unit, wherein the data packets are at a layer of data-link or higher;
• and
• route the regenerated data packets to another optical space terminal by the space switch unit, wherein another optical space terminal is paired with another optical ground terminals for data communication.