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In this presentation, we discuss the first demonstration of a lasercom downlink from a LEO 1.5U 2.3 kg CubeSat to our optical ground station at The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, CA. Two vehicles, AC7-B&C, built under NASA's Optical Communications and Sensors Demonstration (OCSD) program and described in previous presentations, were launched in November 2017 and placed in a 450-km circular orbit. Following on-orbit checkouts and preliminary pointing calibration utilizing on-board star trackers, we have demonstrated (at the time of this manuscript submission) communications links up to 100 Mbps with bit error rates near 10-6 without any forward error correction. Further optimization of the vehicle pointing and detection electronics and operating the transmitter at its full power capacity should enable performance improvements and potential for higher data rates.

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Microelectronics processing technology spawned a new area 'of science and engineering exemplified by the acronyms MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) and NEMS (nanoelectromechanical systems). Microengineering is a multidisciplinary investigation of the physics and science of the submillimeter scale world and the application of this understanding to develop mass-producible microdevices and systems. Aerospace systems will benefit from microengineering technology due to reduced size, mass and power requirements for many standard functions. Microengineering can also enable precise control of surfaces and fluid dynamics. This paper provides an overview of microengineering relevant to aerospace systems. Special focus is given to fabrication and development of micropropulsion systems.