LLCD operations using the Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory (OCTL)

Abhijit Biswas; Joseph M. Kovalik; Malcolm W. Wright; William T. Roberts; Michael K. Cheng; Kevin J. Quirk; Meera Srinivasan; Matthew D. Shaw; Kevin M. Birnbaum

doi:10.1117/12.2044087

6 March 2014 LLCD operations using the Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory (OCTL)

Abhijit Biswas, Joseph M. Kovalik, Malcolm W. Wright, William T. Roberts, Michael K. Cheng, Kevin J. Quirk, Meera Srinivasan, Matthew D. Shaw, Kevin M. Birnbaum

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8971, Free-Space Laser Communication and Atmospheric Propagation XXVI; 89710X (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2044087
Event: SPIE LASE, 2014, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

The Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory (OCTL) located on Table Mountain near Wrightwood, CA served as an alternate ground terminal to the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD), the first free-space laser communication demonstration from lunar distances. The Lunar Lasercom OCTL Terminal (LLOT) Project utilized the existing 1m diameter OCTL telescope by retrofitting: (i) a multi-beam 1568 nm laser beacon transmitter; (ii) a tungsten silicide (WSi) superconducting nanowire single photon detector (SNSPD) receiver for 1550 nm downlink; (iii) a telescope control system with the functionality required for laser communication operations; and (iv) a secure network connection to the Lunar Lasercom Operations Center (LLOC) located at the Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (LL-MIT). The laser beacon transmitted from Table Mountain was acquired by the Lunar Lasercom Space Terminal (LLST) on-board the Lunar Atmospheric Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft and a 1550 nm downlink at 39 and 78 Mb/s was returned to LLOT. Link operations were coordinated by LLOC. During October and November of 2013, twenty successful links were accomplished under diverse conditions. In this paper, a brief system level description of LLOT along with the concept of operations and selected results are presented.

Citation Download Citation

Abhijit Biswas, Joseph M. Kovalik, Malcolm W. Wright, William T. Roberts, Michael K. Cheng, Kevin J. Quirk, Meera Srinivasan, Matthew D. Shaw, and Kevin M. Birnbaum "LLCD operations using the Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory (OCTL)", Proc. SPIE 8971, Free-Space Laser Communication and Atmospheric Propagation XXVI, 89710X (6 March 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2044087

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