Bibcode
Stumpf, Max; Roth, Christoph; Mosberger, Martin; Francou, Laurent; García-Talavera, M. R.; Heese, Clemens; Sodnik, Zoran
Referencia bibliográfica
Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 10524, id. 105240D 9 pp. (2018).
Advertised on:
2
2018
Número de citas
0
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Descripción
We report the design of OPTEL-D which is an optical communication system
for direct data transfer from deep space to earth. OPTEL-D extends the
link distances of current optical communication systems to the deep
space. The design covers the electrical, thermal, mechanical and optical
challenges that such a link distance imposes to both the ground and the
space segment. The detailed conceptual system design is presented
together with its trade-offs and performance analyses. The space
terminal is based on a modular approach which groups the fiber-optical,
the opto-mechanical, and the electrical functions into separated modules
for independent accommodation. The transmitter beam is provided by an
amplitude modulated MOPA system operating at 1.5um. The opto-mechanical
unit accomplishes beam forming and steering of the transmit beam as well
as reception of the uplink channel. An electrical unit comprises
power-conditioning, data-handling, and terminal control through its
interfaces to the spacecraft. It is concluded that the OPTEL-D space
terminal mass and power are 34 kg and 116 Watts. Depending on the ground
station configuration, a data rate of several Mbps is reached over
distances of >75 Mio kilometers. Critical assumptions on the receiver
sensitivity were verified by tests and the results will be presented.
The design of OPTEL-D was derived in collaboration with the European
Space Agency to serve the Asteroid Impact Mission. Due to its modular
approach using commercially available technology, it can be realized in
a competitive schedule and cost frame providing flexible yet powerful
data downlinks to most deep space missions.