1U CubeSat Lasercom Terminal for Deep Space Communication

In this NASA SBIR-select Phase 1 program Fibertek, Inc., proposes the design, optimization, and analysis of a 1U CubeSat Lasercom Optical Terminal, optimized for deep-space colmmunication links, and targeting the following characteristics – (i) Low Size/Weight/Power (SWaP) 1U Lasercom Terminal for deep-space mission (total power budget P<5W is targeted), (ii) Athermalized optical design of a fiber-coupled optical telescope for lasercom transmit/receive function, (iii) Innovative monolithic design and fabrication of the optical assembly with large 6.5-cm aperture, (iv) Integrated beam point-ahead and beam-pointing stabilization capability, (v) Integrated radiation-tolerant controller card for all control and interface functions for this 1U CubeSat terminal, (vi) Low power radiation-tolerant FPGA based electronics design, for a reconfigurable and highly capable processing platform, and (vii) Use of integrated simulation & modeling tools (optical, thermal, vibration, jitter-control, etc.) for detailed design analysis, and to assist in future hardware-in-the-loop testing of critical functions to validate performance, prior to prototype build and test.

(1) 1U CubeSat lasercom optical terminal for deep-space and inter-planetary missions (2) Compact, efficient space lasercom optical terminal for LEO/GEO platforms (3) Optical terminal design can be adapted for active remote-sensing of planetary atmospheres. (4) Optical terminal can be used for lidar based entry-descent & landing, as all needed functionalities - laser transmit/receive, processing, and optical telescope are already available (5) Compact and cost-effective optical terminal for potential imaging applications from CubeSat or SmallSat platforms

(1) Compact, efficient LEO-GEO space lasercom optical terminal for DoD applications, e.g. AF, NRO (2) Compact, efficient lasercom optical terminal for UAV ?{ satellite applications (3) Can be adapted for any optical terminal needs for SmallSat platform on hosted payloads.

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