Laser power beaming to satellites and orbital transfer vehicles requires the accurate pointing of a low-d_vergence laser beam to its target, whether the target is in the sunlight or the earth's shadow. The Air Force Phillips Laboratory (AFPL) has demonstrated reduction in the image size of stars by a factor of 10 or more by using laser beacons and adaptive optics for atmospheric compensation. This same technology is applicable to reducing the divergence of laser beams propagated from earth to space. A team of Phillips Laboratory, COMSAT Laboratories, and Sandia National Laboratories plans to demonstrate the state of the art in this area with laser-beaming demonstrations to high-orbit satellites. The demonstrations will utilize the 1.5-m diameter telescope with adaptive optics at the AFPL Starfire Optical Range (SOR) and a ruby laser provided by the Air Force and Sandia (1-50 kW and 6 ms at 694.3 nm). The first targets will be corner-cube retro-reflectors left on the moon by the Apollo 11, 14, and 15 landings. We will attempt to use adaptive optics for atmospheric compensation to demonstrate accurate and reliable beam projection with a series of shots over a span of time and shot angle. We will utilize the return signal from the retro-reflectors to help determine the beam diameter on the moon and the variations in pointing accuracy caused by atmospheric tilt. This will be especially challenging because the rctro-reflectors will need to be in the lunar shadow to allow detection over background light. If the results from this experiment arc encouraging, we will at a later date direct the beam at a COMSAT satellite in geosynchronous orbit as it goes into the shadow of the earth. We will utilize an onboard monitor to measure the current generated in the sola: panels on the satellite while the beam is present. A thrcshold irradiance of about 4 W/m 2 on orbit is needed for this demonstration.

Scaling laser systems to large sizes for power beaming and other applications can sometimes be simplified by combining a number of smaller lasers. However, to fully utilize this scaling, coherent beam combination is necessary. This requires measuring and controlling each beam's pointing and phase relative to adjacent beams using an adaptive optical system.We have built a sub-scale brass-board to evaluate various methods for beam-combining. It includes a segmented adaptive optic and several different specialized wavefront sensors that are fabricated using diffractive optics methods. We have evaluated a number of different phasing algorithms, including hierarchical and matrix methods, and have demonstrated phasing of several elements. The system is currently extended to a large number ofisegments to evaluate various scaling Keywords: adaptive optic, wavefront sensor, coherent beam combiningmethodologies.r :

The development of modeling algorithms for adaptive optics systems is important for evaluating both performance and design parameters prior to system construction. Two of the most critical subsystems to be modeled are the binary optic design and the adaptive control system. Since these two are intimately related, it is beneficial to model them simultaneously.Optic modeling techniques have some significant limitations. Diffraction effects directly limit the utility of geometrical ray-tracing models, and transform techniques such as the fast fourier transform can be both cumbersome and memory intensive. We have developed a hybrid system incorporating elements of both ray-tracing and fourier transform techniques.In this paper we present an analytical model of wavefront propagation through a binary optic lens system developed and implemented at Sandia. This model is unique in that it solves the transfer function for each portion of a diffractive optic analytically. The overall performance is obtained by a linear superposition of each result. The model has been successfully used in the design of a wide range of binary optics, including an adaptive optic for a beam combining system consisting of an array of rectangular mirrors, each controllable in tip/tilt and piston.Wavefront sensing and the control models for a beam combining system have been integrated and used to predict overall systems performance. Applicability of the model for design purposes is demonstrated with several lens designs through a comparison of model predictions with actual adaptive optics results.

The ability to acquire, track, and accurately direct a laser beam to a satellite is crucial for power-beaming and lasercommunications. To assess the state of the art in this area, a team consisting of Air Force Phillips Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and COMSAT Corporation personnel performed some laser beaming demonstrations to various satellites. A ruby laser and a frequencydoubled YAG laser were used with the Phillips Lab Starfire Optical Range (SOR) beam director for this activity. The ruby laser projected 20 J in 6 ms out the telescope with a beam divergence that increased from 1.4 to 4 times the diffraction limit during that time. The doubled YAG projected 0.09 J in 10 ns at 20 Hz. The SOR team demonstrated the ability to move rapidly to a satellite, center it in the telescope, then lock onto it with the tracker, and establish illumination. Several low-earth-orbit satellites with corner-cube retro-reflectors were illuminated at ranges from 1000 to 6000 km with a beam divergence estimated to be about 20 pradians. The return signal from the ruby laser was collected in a 15-cm telescope, detected by a photomultiplier tube, and recorded at 400 kHz. Rapid variations in intensity (as short at 15 ps) were noted, which may be due to speckles caused by phase interference from light reflected from different retro-reflectors on the satellite. The return light from the YAG was collected by a 35-cm telescope and detected by an intensified CCD camera. The satellite brightened by about a factor of 30 in the sunlight when the laser was turned on, and dimmed back to normal when the 50-pradian point-ahead was turned off. The satellite was illuminated at 1 Hz as it entered the earth's shadow and followed for about 10 seconds in the shadow. In another demonstration, four neighboring GEO satellites were located and centered in succession with a 3.5-m telescope at a rate of about 16 seconds per satellite.