Advanced Composite Design of Origami Inspired Deployable Metaoptic LiDAR Aperture

By leveraging advanced remote sensing technologies like LiDAR, scientists can better understand and manage the complex interactions between the Earth's atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere, ultimately contributing to the advancement of Earth science research and applications. Vistar proposes new deployable composite LiDAR telescope structure. Utilizing Meta-optics over conventional mirrors and lenses, these telescopes promise significant advantages over traditional systems from compact stowage within confined spacecraft to swift and precise deployment of larger apertures. Deployable origami inspired apertures offer a solution for multi-element transmissive telescope lens designs, enabling compact packaging and reduced launch costs. The focus of this work will be developing a multi-element metalens housed in a composite structure to serve as the primary collection optic in a transmissive telescope for a lidar instrument. The global LiDAR market has been experiencing significant growth driven by increasing demand for 3D mapping and modeling, urban planning, infrastructure development, autonomous vehicles, and environmental monitoring applications. With affordable space-based LiDAR systems, persistent and affordable access to LiDAR data would enhance the current market and open new commercial markets.

NASA employs LiDAR telescopes across various applications encompassing Earth science, planetary exploration, and space technology development. These telescopes serve to monitor atmospheric composition, including greenhouse gases and aerosols, as well as measure surface elevation changes such as ice sheet thickness and land topography. Additionally, LiDAR telescopes contribute to mapping vegetation structure and biomass, facilitating carbon cycle studies and ecosystem monitoring, while also analyzing ocean and land surface properties like snow depth, soil moisture, and water quality. In planetary exploration, these telescopes play a vital role in characterizing planetary surfaces, detecting geological features, exploring planetary atmospheres, and mapping lunar and planetary surfaces to support landing site selection and rover navigation. Furthermore, the proposed lidar telescope aids in advance instrument capabilities for future space missions, validates remote sensing techniques in space environments, and develops deployable and miniaturized systems for CubeSat and small satellite missions. LiDAR telescopes can be utilized for environmental monitoring and assessment, including forestry management, habitat mapping, and urban planning. In agriculture, LiDAR is employed for crop monitoring, yield prediction, and precision farming techniques. LiDAR technology is also integral to infrastructure development and maintenance, aiding in topographic mapping, terrain modeling, and infrastructure inspection for roads, bridges, and utilities. Additionally, LiDAR plays a crucial role in disaster management, including flood modeling, landslide detection, and emergency response planning. Beyond Earth, LiDAR telescopes are utilized in space exploration by various space agencies and private companies for planetary mapping, surface characterization, and resource prospecting on celestial bodies.

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