The optical isolation and stabilization technology developed through this research is targeted for insertion into near-term NASA programs such as the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Mission (LCRD) and as an upgrade for the Optical Payload for LAsercomm Science (OPALS). The capability is considered a "Push Technology" enabling new missions or enhancing missions already planned in for Deep Space Planetary Missions, the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program, and the Deep Space Optical Terminal (DOT) Project. Design geometry is readily customized to specific payload applications. As such, the design can be scaled for a 10cm telescope (e.g., Lunar Lasercom Space Terminal), a 30.5cm telescope (e.g.,Mars Laser Communications Demonstration), or larger telescopes for deep space missions. For small telescopes, the platform can be used for isolation, stabilization, and beam tracking, thus eliminating the need for the Fine Steering Mirror and its associated cost, mass, power and volume.
By providing component-level isolation and stabilization at the optical payload, this approach does not impose any unusual constraints on the host vehicle. This makes the technology broadly applicable to a wide range of vehicles including sRLVs, orbital RLVs, Earth orbiting satellites (even the simplest thruster-only designs), and deep space vehicles. The technology is targeted for high data throughput applications requiring optical links, but the core approach is applicable any space payload requiring high-performance isolation and stabilization. Applications include commercial and military communications satellites, next-generation large space telescopes, space-based interferometric telescopes, advanced geo-pointing surveillance and reconnaissance payloads, etc. NASA and the U.S. comprise less than half of the overall total satellite market, so there are significant international applications for the technology.
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