Ubiquitous satellite communications are in a leading position for bridging the digital divide. Fulfilling such a mission will require satellite services on par with fibre services, both in bandwidth and cost. Achieving such a performance requires a new generation of communications payloads powered by large-scale processors, enabling a dynamic allocation of hundreds of beams with a total capacity beyond 1 Tbit s −1 . The fact that the scale of the processor is proportional to the wavelength of its signals has made photonics a key technology for its implementation. However, one last challenge hinders the introduction of photonics: while large-scale processors demand a modular implementation, coherency among signals must be preserved using simple methods. Here, we demonstrate a coherent photonic-aided receiver meeting such demands. This work shows that a modular and coherent photonic-aided payload is feasible, making way to an extensive introduction of photonics in next generation communications satellites.

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The next generation high bandwidth optical links from earth to space will requirement the development of new high power WDM sources. In this paper G&H present the latest results of their ongoing development of these sources. Namely the development and testing of a 50W optical fibre amplifier that operates across much of Cband is presented as well as a high power wavelength division multiplexer, designed to combine multiple high power amplifiers outputs into a diffraction limited beam.

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