Development of acquisition and tracking system for next-generation optical intersatellite communication

Abstract

One of the key technologies for optical inter-satellite communication equipment is the rapid, highly accurate acquisition and tracking of the corresponding satellite. Therefore, we are developing a prototype of an acquisition and tracking system. This paper describes the specifications and performance test results of the prototype acquisition and tracking system. I. INTRODUCTIONThe emerging development of observation and other low earth orbit (LEO) satellites capable of greatly expanded high-volume data acquisition is expected to increase the need for high-speed data transmission. This need is compounded by the limited time window available for direct communication between an LEO satellite and a ground-based antenna and the resulting requirement for high-volume data transmission. In addition, the size of the RF communication terminal enlarges as the transmission speed increases. We are therefore engaged in the investigation and development of small, lightweight optical communication components that will enable high-speed communication by laser beam between a LEO satellite and a data relay satellite in the geostationary orbit (GEO) (Fig.1) In this paper, the specifications and configuration of the acquisition and tracking system are described. Moreover, the performance results of the control system, which consists of a fine pointing mechanism (FPM) [4] and fine pointing sensor (FPS) [3], are presented. This control system is very important for tracking the laser from the target satellite during communication.