Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Multi-kW Uplink Fiber-Laser Beacon with Agile Signal Format
Project Description
Uplink Laser Beacons for deep-space communication, can benefit greatly from migration to the 1010-1030nm wavelengths, via use of Silicon-APDs on the spacecraft receiving terminal. Fibertek has developed an uplink laser transmitter testbed using a multi-stage fiber-MOPA platform, that is also scalable to a multi-aperture architecture. Preliminary demonstration for 1064nm operation has shown multi-kW peak powers using long-pulse slot(>100nsec)based M-ary PPM format. The highly flexible platform developed at Fibertek, also corrects for pulse-shaping, and pulse-train variations, inherent in such multi-kW long-pulse variable-symbool PPM data-format. This SBIR proposal aims to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of a clear technical road map to translate this to shorter wavelengths <1030nm, as well as to further optimize the uplink laser beacon transmitter for representative M-ary PPM data formats, using FPGA based adaptive control.
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Anticipated Benefits
(1)Ground station to military satellite communication/telemetry (2)Ground to Space (near-earth) power projection for small payload propulsion (3)Power projection for Directed Energy application & testing
(1) Uplink laser beacon for deep-space communication & telemetry. (2) Sub-scale version as uplink beacon for lunar communications, and ground-station to LEO/GEO satellite communication. More »
(1) Uplink laser beacon for deep-space communication & telemetry. (2) Sub-scale version as uplink beacon for lunar communications, and ground-station to LEO/GEO satellite communication. More »
Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fibertek, Inc. | Lead Organization | Industry | Herndon, Virginia |
| Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) | Supporting Organization | FFRDC/UARC | Pasadena, California |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
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California
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Virginia
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This is a historic project that was completed before the creation of TechPort on October 1, 2012. Available data has been included. This record may contain less data than currently active projects.