Grism Pointing Mechanism for Precision Laser Pointing in Space

NewBridge Partners, Inc. has developed an innovative, compact, laser communications pointing mechanism for precise optical beam control. This pointing approach eliminates the need for fast steering mirrors and dual purposes a grating Risley prism to perform both the coarse pointing and the stabilization functions, thereby reducing complexity in the pointing system. The grating Risley enables good boresight performance of the transmit and receive beams compared to a conventional Risley prism pair. Our grating pointing mechanism has a very high bandwidth of ~200 Hz, rivaling the best steering mirrors in lasercomm systems today. It simultaneously has very low jitter of approximately 200 nanoradians, making it an outstanding mechanism for jitter control and large-angle steering. This extremely compact design is readily space qualifiable with the use of high TRL components. It reduces the line-of-sight pointing complexity compared with conventional laser communications gimbals. The pointing mechanism is modular, generally agnostic of the lasercomm details and, therefore, could interface with all the major lasercomm suppliers.

The Grism Pointing Mechanism supports NASA’s space-based laser communications for interplanetary ranges by providing precision pointing. It reduces the size, weight, and power of current laser communication pointing devices while providing outstanding performance at low cost. These features enable use on conventional spacecraft as well as small, low-cost spacecraft that desire the use of laser communications.

With the expanding business of laser communication in space, there are multiple opportunities for the proposed Grism Pointing Mechanism due to its small size, weight, and power. The improved mission capability, design simplicity, and inherent manufacturability are well-suited for these very large constellations employing small, low-cost satellites.

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