The 10 companies were part of a larger 44 company cohort that were the top 4% of the applicants to the newly formed DIANA, an organisation set up by NATO Allies in 2023 aimed at tackling complex security challenges with disruptive dual-use technologies.
As part of Phase II, Astrolight will receive additional funding of up to €300 000, as well as tailored programming, investor networking, and adoption opportunities.
"While we truly believe our products can bring a change in how humanity communicates in space, applying our technology where it can benefit our NATO partners the most is one of our priorities. This includes terrestrial and space applications and the defence sector in particular, which could benefit from increased security and resistance to jamming that our products can provide. Laser communication is poised to enable unique capabilities in the dual-use segment and we are here to showcase this,” said Laurynas Mačiulis, CEO of Astrolight.
Astrolight is developing unjammable, undetectable, high-bandwidth laser communication for multi-domain operations. Secure, interference-resistant communication systems are essential for defence operations in space, sea, air and on the ground. Astrolight's laser communication technology offers these solutions, aiming to provide NATO a secure alternative to conventional radio frequency communications, vulnerable to electronic warfare attacks.
One of the innovations for which Astrolight has been selected for Phase II of DIANA is ATLAS, a space-to-Earth laser communication system. It enables 10x faster data transmission from ultra-high-resolution and hyperspectral sensors being integrated in current and future low Earth orbit satellites. Another of Astrolight’s developments – POLARIS – targets naval communication and is expected to retire the old signal lamp in radio-denied environments and situations requiring radio-silence, allowing NATO naval units to share tactical information at multi-gigabit per second speeds.
"NATO's defence in the future depends on our capacity to keep up with emerging threats. The alliance will become quickly outmatched without developing breakthrough technologies. With our laser communication systems, we can make sure that NATO uses superior defence systems to protect its forces and maintain superiority in space and on Earth," added Mačiulis.
The 10 companies come from seven nations, specialising in a range of technologies, ranging from quantum sensing and ultra-cold matter to renewable energy. Astrolight is the only selected company from Lithuania.
To move into Phase II, innovators had to demonstrate progress in their commercial and defence market potential, the technical viability and novelty of their solutions, and their investment readiness. Review panels comprised technical, defence and innovation experts.
“We’re proud to announce the ten innovative companies moving into Phase II,” said Professor Deeph Chana, Managing Director of DIANA. “To solve complex security and resilience problems, we need an ecosystem of creative, collaborative innovators willing to bring their talent and expertise to bear. These ten innovators, and indeed all of our first cohort, are paving the way for a strong pipeline of innovation for Allied nations to adopt.”
The next phase of the NATO DIANA program takes Astrolight closer to providing resilient communication to NATO forces across all domains. With advanced laser communication technology, Astrolight can help boost NATO's communication capabilities at the strategic, operational and tactical levels when operating against near-peer adversaries.
