SLR link budget and retroreflector optical cross section evaluation

Abstract

The network of satellite laser ranging stations is expanding every year, which is partly driven by new applications such as space traffic management as well as new companies that commercialize the technology. For the design of new ground segments, it is important to find the balance between an optimization of the link budget, e.g., through the utilization of high-power lasers, large telescopes, etc., and the mass, the volume, and the overall costs of such systems. A key uncertainty in the estimation of the link budget is the optical cross section of the satellites that are equipped with retroreflectors. The objective of this study is the derivation of the practical in-orbit optical cross section from satellite laser ranging measurements. The analysis shows that only a few stations provide useful data for the evaluation. Further, the derived values from selected satellites exhibit discrepancies to the theoretical values, which are beyond the variances of the measurements. Nevertheless, this study provides optical cross sections of satellites that can be used for first signal estimations of new compact ground systems, such as the miniSLR.