Optical satellite communication space terminal technology at TNO

Conference paper (2018)

Authors

R. Saathof TNO

Will Crowcombe TNO

Stefan Kuiper TNO

Nick Van Der Valk TNO

Federico Pettazzi TNO

Dorus De Lange TNO

Peter Kerkhof TNO

Martijn Van Riel TNO

Harry de Man TNO

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Affiliation

External organisation

Optical satellite communications Coarse pointing assemblies Optical space terminals

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http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3f218273-509a-4ad9-acc5-6dc2f703c2dd

Published Date

2018

Language

English

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Affiliation

External organisation

Abstract

Optical communications will complement radio frequency (RF) communications in the coming decades to enhance throughput, power efficiency and link security of satellite communication links. To enable optical communications technology for intersatellite links and (bi-directional) ground to satellite links, TNO develops a suite of technologies in collaboration with industry, which comprises of terminals with different aperture sizes, coarse pointing assemblies and fast steering mirrors. This paper presents the current state of the development of TNO technology for optical space communications. It mainly focuses on the development of an optical head with an entrance aperture of 70 mm, an optical bench for CubeSats and coarse pointing assemblies (CPAs). By continuing these steps, world wide web based on satellite communications will come closer.