NASA's flight-technology development program: a 650-Mbit/s laser communications testbed

William L. Hayden; Michael W. Fitzmaurice; Dave Nace; Donald C. Lokerson; Peter O. Minott; William W. Chapman

doi:10.1117/12.43752

1 June 1991 NASA's flight-technology development program: a 650-Mbit/s laser communications testbed

William L. Hayden, Michael W. Fitzmaurice, Dave Nace, Donald C. Lokerson, Peter O. Minott, William W. Chapman

Proceedings Volume 1417, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies III; (1991) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.43752
Event: Optics, Electro-Optics, and Laser Applications in Science and Engineering, 1991, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

A 650 Mbps laser communications testbed under construction for the development of flight qualifiable hardware suitable for near-term operation on geosynchronous-to-geosynchronous crosslink missions is presented. The program''s primary purpose is to develop and optimize laser communications unique subsystems. Requirements for the testbed experiments are to optimize the acquisition processes, to fully simulate the long range (up to 21,000 km) and the fine tracking characteristics of two narrow-beam laser communications terminals, and to fully test communications performance which will include average and burst bit error rates, effects of laser diode coalignment, degradation due to internal and external stray light, and the impact of drifts in the optical components.

Citation Download Citation

William L. Hayden, Michael W. Fitzmaurice, Dave Nace, Donald C. Lokerson, Peter O. Minott, and William W. Chapman "NASA's flight-technology development program: a 650-Mbit/s laser communications testbed", Proc. SPIE 1417, Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies III, (1 June 1991); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.43752

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