Session
Session 11: Big Data From Small Satellites 2
Abstract
Fibertek is developing a cubesat laser communications (lasercom) downlink terminal that supports direct optical data downlink from cubesats to modest optical ground stations with 30 to 50 cm diameter telescopes.
This paper describes the design, development, and lab testing of the optical transceiver portion of a compact cubesat space lasercom terminal. The design uses a relatively large aperture, low divergence, and accurate pointing approach to minimize the required laser power as well as the overall electrical power of the system. The optical transceiver has a shared transmit/receive optical path that uses a 1 um laser beacon to ensure high pointing accuracy, control the pointing stability, and ensure a strong optical signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) during link operation. The fundamental terminal optical design has been manufactured and tested providing high accuracy pointing and low jitter. The systems design is completed by adding a cubesat form-factor 1.5-um fiber-amplifier with 2 W optical power, high-data-rate optical transceiver card, and digital-modem/bus-interface card to lasercom terminal capable of supporting >5 Gbit/sec optical downlink.
Presentation
Cubesat Laser Communications Transceiver for Multi-Gbps Downlink
Fibertek is developing a cubesat laser communications (lasercom) downlink terminal that supports direct optical data downlink from cubesats to modest optical ground stations with 30 to 50 cm diameter telescopes.
This paper describes the design, development, and lab testing of the optical transceiver portion of a compact cubesat space lasercom terminal. The design uses a relatively large aperture, low divergence, and accurate pointing approach to minimize the required laser power as well as the overall electrical power of the system. The optical transceiver has a shared transmit/receive optical path that uses a 1 um laser beacon to ensure high pointing accuracy, control the pointing stability, and ensure a strong optical signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) during link operation. The fundamental terminal optical design has been manufactured and tested providing high accuracy pointing and low jitter. The systems design is completed by adding a cubesat form-factor 1.5-um fiber-amplifier with 2 W optical power, high-data-rate optical transceiver card, and digital-modem/bus-interface card to lasercom terminal capable of supporting >5 Gbit/sec optical downlink.
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