The results of pioneering studies on preparation of highly transparent Fe2+ : MgAl2O4 ceramics from powders synthesised in a laser torch are presented. This ceramics with a high transparency in the near-IR spectral region is synthesised for the first time at a low temperature (1300 °C) and a short (1 h) sintering time. It is found that, as the iron oxide concentration increases from 0.1 to 5 wt