A new laser link with the International Space Station could do what optical fiber has done for internet access on Earth — by turning orbital communications from painfully slow dial-up to blazing-fast broadband.

In recent tests of the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) instrument, which is attached to the space station's exterior, NASA scientists and engineers have demonstrated that laser communications, as opposed to traditional radio transmissions, could revolutionize how we communicate with space-based assets.