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PS2I proposes a roughly 50‑element array of spacecraft, each carrying a 4‑meter deployable reflector and a heterodyne receiver, with baselines of 1–2 km and about 100 GHz of bandwidth to enable unprecedented resolution and sensitivity at submillimeter wavelengths (0.5 to 0.05 mm). The mission leverages optical frequency comb‑based photonic technology for high‑throughput signal transport, correlation, phasing, synchronization, and calibration, offering major size, weight, and power advantages for space deployment. Development of OFC‑based photonic systems includes wide‑bandwidth signal transport, local oscillator generation, photonic lag cross‑correlators, interferometer phasing and synchronization, baseline calibration, and group delay calibration. Combined with declining launch costs, lightweight antennas, and efficient front‑ends, PS2I is intended to be technically and economically viable within 15–20 years. It targets two science goals: sub‑AU imaging of protoplanetary disks within 50 pc to reveal disk structure, dust evolution, and planet formation timescales; and spectral imaging of [C II] 158‑micron emission from galaxies at redshifts z=1–2 to probe gas kinematics and morphology during peak cosmic star formation.
Photonic processing offers significant advantages in SWaP and OFCs simplify phasing, synchronization, and calibration compared to conventional electronic systems. OFC-based photonic technology—combined with falling launch costs, lightweight antennas, and efficient front-ends—makes PS2I viable. PS2I enables: (1) Sub-AU imaging of protoplanetary disk, (2) Imaging [C II] 158 μm line emission from galaxies at z = 1–2. The technology development also supports broader applications such as: (1) single-dish space telescope signal processing, low-power wideband communication, (2) next-generation space positioning systems
This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.
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