Session
Session 11: Assuring the Space Ecosystem I
Abstract
The Extremely Low-Resource Optical Identifier (ELROI) beacon is a concept for a milliwatt optical “license plate'” that can provide unique ID numbers for everything that goes into space. Using photon counting to enable extreme background rejection in real time, the ID number can be read from the ground in a few minutes by anyone with a small tracking telescope and a photon-counting sensor. ELROI is powered by its own small solar cell, and it is sufficiently compact, lightweight, and inexpensive for use on CubeSats and other small satellites. The ELROI concept has been validated in long-range ground tests, and orbital prototypes are scheduled for launch in 2018 and beyond, including a PC-104 form factor unit which was integrated into a CubeSat and is scheduled to launch in summer 2018. We describe the design and signal characteristics of this prototype and the next generation of fully autonomous units, and discuss applications for CubeSats and other small satellites.
ELROI: A License Plate for Satellites That Anyone Can Read
The Extremely Low-Resource Optical Identifier (ELROI) beacon is a concept for a milliwatt optical “license plate'” that can provide unique ID numbers for everything that goes into space. Using photon counting to enable extreme background rejection in real time, the ID number can be read from the ground in a few minutes by anyone with a small tracking telescope and a photon-counting sensor. ELROI is powered by its own small solar cell, and it is sufficiently compact, lightweight, and inexpensive for use on CubeSats and other small satellites. The ELROI concept has been validated in long-range ground tests, and orbital prototypes are scheduled for launch in 2018 and beyond, including a PC-104 form factor unit which was integrated into a CubeSat and is scheduled to launch in summer 2018. We describe the design and signal characteristics of this prototype and the next generation of fully autonomous units, and discuss applications for CubeSats and other small satellites.
