Infrared and Laser Engineering, Volume. 51, Issue 11, 20220121(2022)

Research on satellite laser ranging at pulse repetition frequency of 100 kHz

Shaoyu Cheng1,2, Mingliang Long2, Haifeng Zhang2,3, Zhibo Wu2,3, Si Qin2, and Zhongping Zhang2,3,4
Author Affiliations
  • 1School of Computer Engineering and Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
  • 2Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, China
  • 3Key Laboratory of Space Object and Debris Observation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
  • 4State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
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    The relationship between the number of satellite laser ranging (SLR) echoes and the repetition rate, laser pulse energy and power are analyzed, it shows that under the same laser echoes, the higher the repetition rate, the lower the laser pulse energy and laser average power are required. Meanwhile, single-shot accuracy and normal point (NP) accuracy of SLR are analyzed, it shows that the more measuring points within the NP time are, the higher the NP accuracy would be. The working mode of firing pulse trains and receiving pulse trains triggered by a fixed period range gate is proposed to solve the interference problem of laser echo caused by back-scattered laser noise with ultra-high pulse repetition frequency (PRF). The multi-buffer storage mode is developed to improve the real-time processing and storage efficiency of data in measurement software by 4-6 times. Based on the telescope aperture of 60 cm SLR in Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, CAS, the PRF of 100 kHz SLR is realized by using fast event timing, ultra-high pulse trains generator, low noise single photon detector and picosecond laser with pulse spacing of 5 μs, single pulse energy of 80 μJ. Measured data of satellites by the PRF of 100 kHz SLR is from low earth orbit (LEO) and high earth orbit (HEO). The NP accuracy for Hy2b satellite in LEO is 28.55 μm, and that of Galileo218 satellite in HEO is 136.51 μm. This study provides an effective method for higher frequency and high-accuracy space target laser ranging.

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    Shaoyu Cheng, Mingliang Long, Haifeng Zhang, Zhibo Wu, Si Qin, Zhongping Zhang. Research on satellite laser ranging at pulse repetition frequency of 100 kHz[J]. Infrared and Laser Engineering, 2022, 51(11): 20220121

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    Paper Information

    Category: Lasers & Laser optics

    Received: Feb. 24, 2022

    Accepted: May. 16, 2022

    Published Online: Feb. 9, 2023

    The Author Email:

    DOI:10.3788/IRLA20220121

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