Acquisition Concept for Inter-Satellite Communication Terminals on CubeSats

Kurzfassung

Free Space Optical (FSO) communication is gaining ground in satellite industry and an ideal supplement to classical radio data transmission. It offers solutions for global, high-rate and secure communication channels with compact designs and high cost- and performance-efficiency. Thus, German Aerospace Center (DLR) develops laser communication terminals for CubeSats and small satellites. DLR has a long heritage in developing FSO terminals for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites in the Direct To Earth (DTE) scenario. The next step is to transfer this technology to Inter-Satellite Links (ISL). This paper presents DLR’s current development of an ISL laser communication terminal for CubeSats “CubeISL”. The optical terminal of CubeISL relies on the basic development of the “OSIRIS4CubeSat” (O4C) payload. To establish a link between the corresponding CubeISLterminals, DLR developed a search algorithm to acquire the laser of the partner terminal on the other satellite. The paper discusses the possibilities of different concepts based on the current design. CubeISL will be demonstrated in a mission with two 6U CubeSats. Beside the technical description of the payload design and the search and acquisition algorithm, the paper will also give an overview and an outlook to this demonstrator mission