Laser Communications Subsystem for Interplanetary CubeSats

This task will develop a flight terminal prototype of a 1.5 U lasercom terminal.

The innovation relies heavily on a “reduced complexity” flight terminal with sound functionality yet compact enough to fit within a module of a standard CubeSat. For the optical telescope, which consumes the most volume, we envision use of a recently patented “monolithic  telescope." The laser transmitter is based on an advanced miniaturized fiber amplifier. For the modem, a JPL-developed deep-space lasercom modem design will be slightly modified, to remove unrelated features, for use with the CubeSat terminal.