Optoelectronics parts NewSpace qualification aboard FOLC2 optical modem mission

Abstract

Aerosol quantification is of paramount importance for climate research, health and many other fields. The best method for measuring and characterizing aerosol from space is the application of a multi-angle polarimeter. A Dutch consortium has developed and delivered the so called SPEXone instrument for the NASA PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission, to be launched early 2024.SPEXone is based on the polarization modulation of the spectrum, allowing full characterization of the state of linear polarization of the incoming light. Earth is viewed under five angles, producing ten modulated spectra, projected on a single detector. A polarimetric accuracy of 0.3% is achieved, with the instrument of about 10 dm 3 volume and 10 kg mass.Based on the SPEXone design and experience, an upgraded instrument is being developed. Main change is the wider swath applied, from the 100 km swath for PACE to the present 250 km. This impacts the five telescopes, being integrated in one telescope unit.Other changes in the design are based on lessons learned, in particular the reduction and avoidance of stray light. The detector readout is adjusted for higher frame rate and more robust readout. These changes do not impact the instrument's budgets for mass, volume and power.In this paper, we will explain the principle of the SPEXone multi-angle spectropolarimeter instrument, the improvements with respect to the PACE version and its development status. The instrument can be flown as a stand-alone instrument for aerosol detection, as well as a support instrument where aerosol corrections are relevant, e.g., for high accuracy detection and quantification of methane and CO2.

Sophisticated band pass filters and dichroic by PARMS technology for the LSTM project

“…The building blocks of the TELEO instrument are now being manufactured and their performances are being measured, before integration and final environment tests [3]. The integration on the satellite will then come by end of year 2022.…”

“…The Acquisition and Tracking Sensor (ATS) is a fully qualified [3] Component Of The Shelf (COTS) matrix that detects the beam received from the partner terminal (beacon or part of the Rx com beam). This sensor is able to work in two distinct modes, the first is the full-frame mode, used during the acquisition phase at low bandwidth (typically up to several hundreds of Hz), and the second is the windowing mode, used during the tracking phase at higher bandwidth (typically few kHz).…”