Precision pointing mechanism for laser communication mission

摘要

This paper describes the design, development and testing of a precision steering mirror used to provide laser pointing in a laser communication link. The mechanism is used to steer a 9 mm output laser beam about two orthogonal axes using an open loop command. The pointing error budget is 13 $mu@rad over the $POM@6.5 mrad pointing region. The mirror is mounted on a 2-axis flexure suspension system and driven by linear actuators. Position sensors measure the mirror position with respect to the base. The drive electronics utilize redundant servo electronics cards. This paper provides a general overview of the mechanism pointing requirements. After the requirements definition, an overview of the hardware configuration is given, followed by critical performance summaries and test results.