Laser Inter-Satellite Links

Watch a low-Earth-orbit satellite swarm form a laser mesh network — each satellite linked to its nearest neighbours by an inter-satellite link (ISL), exactly the topology real mega-constellations use to move data across space without touching a ground station mid-route. Start a transmission and a packet finds its way from an uplink near New York to a downlink near Sydney through several satellite hops, timed against a packet racing the transcontinental undersea fiber route. Because light travels at full speed through the vacuum of space but slows to roughly two-thirds of that speed inside glass fiber, the satellite path can win the race even though it physically travels further.