[Edaily Reporter Shin Ha-yeon] #Lykom announced on the 16th that it presented the results of its joint development with the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Hanwha Systems on the domestic production of high-power optical amplifiers for inter-satellite laser (ISL) communication at the "2026 Comprehensive Academic Conference of the Korean Society of Military Science and Technology" held recently.

The paper presented at the conference, titled "Domestic Development and Environmental Validation of a High-Power Optical Amplifier for Inter-Satellite Laser Communication," details the design and performance of the high-power optical amplifier—which can be applied to next-generation satellite communications—as well as the results of its space environment suitability verification.

Inter-satellite laser communication is a field that requires high speed, low latency, and high security, and high-power, high-reliability optical amplifiers that meet optical satellite communication standards are considered key components.

Licom explained that it designed a two-stage optical amplifier with a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) structure, achieved the target output by applying pump laser duplication and a multi-pump structure, and secured stable operational reliability even in the space environment.

Since last year, the company has been participating in a government-funded aerospace project worth a total of 105 billion won to develop optical amplifier technology for satellite communications.

Leveraging its status as the only domestic company with specialized capabilities in the development and manufacturing of fiber-optic-based optical amplifiers, the company plans to secure core components for low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication networks and establish a space heritage through future in-orbit verification.

Alongside its new business ventures, the company is also achieving success in the AI data center market. Earlier this month, Lycom signed two consecutive supply contracts for optical amplifiers for data center interconnect (DCI), with a total contract value of 6 billion won.

These products will be supplied to U.S. AI data centers through 1finity, a subsidiary of Japan’s Fujitsu and a top-tier player in the U.S. transmission equipment market.

A company official stated, “This paper demonstrates that Lycom’s high-power optical amplifier technology is applicable even in inter-satellite laser communication environments,” adding, “Along with expanding orders for AI data centers, we will continue to advance the high-reliability optical amplifier technology required in the defense and aerospace sectors to expand our business scope into the satellite communication market led by SpaceX and the Free-Space Optics (FSO) sector.”