The University of North Dakota has installed a rooftop observatory and linked basement laser lab in Witmer Hall to establish a Free‑Space Optical Communication Lab capable of sending and receiving laser signals with satellites. Funded with a $5 million state appropriation and built with local contractors, the facility combines a rooftop telescope and a temperature‑controlled basement laser lab connected by optical fiber. The lab will support student research and regional workforce training; all hardware is expected onsite by the end of spring 2026.
UND Unveils Free‑Space Optical Communication Lab atop Witmer Hall to Beam Lasers at Satellites
Dec. 11 — GRAND FORKS — The University of North Dakota has installed a new Free‑Space Optical Communication Lab in Witmer Hall that will enable students and regional partners to transmit and receive laser signals with orbiting satellites.
The project, led by Markus Allgaier, assistant professor of physics and astrophysics, came together with support from UND Facilities and local contractors. “There’s nothing here that comes from too far away,” Allgaier said, acknowledging regional firms for their role in the build-out.
Two-Part Facility: Rooftop Observatory and Basement Laser Lab
The laboratory is split between two connected spaces in Witmer Hall. On the roof, crews installed an observatory and telescope outfitted with precision optics to point lasers at satellites and to collect faint laser light returning from those spacecraft — the most technically demanding aspect of the system. The rooftop installation was originally scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 9, but weather forced crews to move the work to Wednesday, Dec. 10. Wind and snow flurries delayed the final lift until about 1 p.m. that day.
Below ground, in Witmer’s basement, UND built a temperature‑controlled laser laboratory with vibration‑isolated laser tables. The two locations are linked by optical fiber so experiments and control systems in the basement can operate the rooftop observatory and receive data from satellite links.
Purpose And Local Impact
The combined facility serves two main goals: provide a turnkey, commercial‑standard ground station capable of working with real satellites, and create a research environment to explore scientific and engineering questions about optical downlinks and uplinks. UND requested $5 million in state funding ahead of the 2023 legislative session and received the appropriation for this research infrastructure project.
Allgaier noted the project’s local economic impact: much of the funding returned to the region through contracts with local firms, including Sand Steel of Emerado and AE2S. He also highlighted workforce benefits: the Space Development Agency will operate support from Grand Forks Air Force Base, and contractors that build and operate ground stations recruit from UND. “We can train students from the region for jobs in the region that need that kind of skill,” he said.
Students, Courses And Timeline
Students are already using the basement lab. Allgaier’s research group includes three PhD students, one master’s student and several undergraduates working on senior projects. He is considering adding an upper‑level optics elective and a dedicated laser course; the facility is intended to be available to anyone at UND who needs it. “Anyone at UND can use the facility,” he said. “It’s taking a little bit of shape of what that collaboration is going to look like and who might use it.”
Allgaier began planning the lab before moving to Grand Forks: he signed his contract in March 2023 and began work on campus in January 2024. He spent months before his arrival consulting contractors and refining a “wish list” of capabilities that fit the available budget. He has helped build three other optics labs in previous roles, but called this the first time he could design to a full wishlist of features.
Allgaier also described a broader industry challenge as a “chicken and egg” problem: missions rarely use laser communications because ground infrastructure is limited, and ground stations are slow to appear because missions do not specify laser links. Representatives from NASA have echoed that dynamic. “You need to overcome by putting a little bit of faith in that, that this will be a technology that will be used,” he said.
All hardware is expected to be onsite by the end of spring 2026; integration, calibration and testing will continue after that before the system becomes fully operational.
Key Facts: Rooftop observatory installed Dec. 10 at about 1 p.m.; $5 million state appropriation; local contractors Sand Steel (Emerado) and AE2S helped with construction; facility links rooftop optics to a temperature‑controlled basement laser lab via optical fiber.
