Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory (OCTL) Support of Space to Ground Link Demonstrations

Abstract

The NASA/JPL Optical Communication Telescope Laboratory (OCTL) was built for dedicated research and development toward supporting free-space laser communications from space. Recently, the OCTL telescope was used to support the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) from the Lunar Atmospheric Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft and is planned for use with the upcoming Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS) demonstration from the International Space Station (ISS). The use of OCTL to support these demonstrations is discussed in this report. The discussion will feed forward to ongoing and future space-to-ground laser communications as it advances toward becoming an operational capability.

On-orbit demonstration of 200-Gbps laser communication downlink from the TBIRD CubeSat

“…23,24 The ground terminal is located at NASA/JPL's Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory (OCTL) at Table Mountain Facility near Wrightwood, California. 25 OCTL has a 1-m diameter telescope and adaptive optics system that were augmented by JPL to support the TBIRD system. The ground terminal uplink transmitter and downlink receiver and associated high speed digital electronics were built by MIT Lincoln Laboratory.…”