BROADBAND LASER INTERSATELLITE LINK FOR MICROSATELLITES: PROJECT OVERVIEW

摘要

The Broadband Laser Intersatellite Link (BLISL) is a joint Israeli-German applied research project. Its goal is to develop a prototype of a small mass and volume, power efficient and affordable broadband optical intersatellite communication terminal for applications on micro or small satellites in LEO/MEO constellations, and to demonstrate its performance in an in-space joint experiment. The nominal BLISL's requirements are: range, 8000 km; mass, 15 kg; volume, 40 X 25 X 25 cm; power (DC), 25 W; bit rate, 1.0 Gb/s; BER, 10~(―9). The project's guiding line is to focus on the basic BLISL's prototype, suitable and affordable for the envisioned applications and planned demo, but also to make the BLISL configuration modular and scalable, capable of future extensions for wide range of applications. The electro-optical transceiver and the tracking system use the same core optics, and the same laser is used for optical transmitter and for the acquisition and tracking beacon. Commercial off the shelf (COTS) components are used wherever possible. A two-axis gimbaled platform includes telescope, optical components, sun hood, trackers for the self and neighbor laser beam, star-tracker, transmitter, receiver and optical interfaces, fine steering mirror (FSM) and point-ahead-mirror (PAM). The off-gimbals unit supports the interfaces between the platform and the computer, receives data from the platform sensors and provides the commands and set-ups that enable pointing, acquisition, tracking (PAT) functions.