Analysis on Development Status and Trend of Space Laser Communication Technology

Xia Hou; Zheqi Liu; Yidi Chang; Shaowen Lu; Fan Fang; Jiawei Li

doi:10.3788/CJL240448

Chinese Journal of Lasers, Volume. 51, Issue 11, 1101013(2024)

Analysis on Development Status and Trend of Space Laser Communication Technology

Xia Hou, Zheqi Liu, Yidi Chang, Shaowen Lu, Fan Fang, and Jiawei Li^*

Aerospace Laser Technology and Systems Department, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics,Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China

show less

Abstract Get PDF(in Chinese)

Figures & Tables(17)

Fig. 1. ESA global data relay transmission program

Download full size

Fig. 2. AIM program

Download full size

Fig. 3. LLCD Moon-to-Earth communication experiment

Download full size

Fig. 4. LCRD laser relay communication experiment

Download full size

Fig. 5. DSCO planned load diagram

Download full size

Fig. 6. V2 mini Starlink satellite

Download full size

Fig. 7. TBIRD satellite-to-ground 200 Gbit/s communication experiment

Download full size

Fig. 8. Artemis Ⅱ sending laser signals to Earth

Download full size

Fig. 9. JDRS data relay satellite system

Download full size

Fig. 10. Schematic diagram of work flow of acquisition tracking and pointing subsystem of space laser communication

Download full size

Fig. 11. Typical BPSK modulation/coherent detection spatial optical communication schematic diagram

Download full size

Fig. 12. Schematic diagram of working principle of adaptive optical system

Download full size

Fig. 13. Nutation tracking diagram

Download full size

Table 1. Completed in-orbit technology verification of typical space laser communication terminals at home and abroad

View table

Table 1. Completed in-orbit technology verification of typical space laser communication terminals at home and abroad

Region	Time	Communication terminal	Research institution	Link type	Communication wavelength /nm	Communication rate /（bit·s^-1）	Modulation format
Europe	2001	SILEX	ESA	LEO⁃GEO	847	50M	IM/DD
	2008	LCTSX	DLR	LEO⁃LEO	1064	5.6G	BPSK
	2016	EDRS-A	ESA	GEO⁃GEO	1064	1.8G	BPSK
	2019	EDRS-C	ESA	GEO⁃GEO	1064	1.8G	BPSK
USA	2000	OCD-1 OCD-2	JPL NASA	LEO⁃GND	844 1550	500M 2.5G	IM/DD
	2013	LLCD	NASA， MIT， JPL	Lunar⁃GND， GND⁃Lunar	1550 （down）， 1558 （up）	622M （down）， 20M （up）	PPM
	2018	OSCD-B	NASA	LEO⁃GND	1064	100M	IM/DD
	2021	LCRD	NASA， MIT， JPL	GEO⁃GND	1550	2.88G	DPSK
	2022	TBIRD	NASA， MIT	LEO⁃GND	1550	100G （down）， 5k （up）	PM-QPSK PPM
Japan	2005	OICETS	JAXA	SSO⁃GND	847	49.372M， 2.048M	PPM
	2014	SOTA	NICT	LEO⁃GND， GND⁃LEO	980/1550	10M （down）， 1M （up）	OOK
	2020	JDRS	JAXA	GEO⁃LEO	1540 （reverse）， 1560 （forward）	1.8G （reverse）， 50M （forward）	RZ-DPSK IM/DD
China	2011	HY⁃2	HIT	LEO⁃GND	1550	504M	IM/DD
	2016	Mozi	SIOM	LEO⁃GND	1550	5.12G （down）， 20M （up）	DPSK PPM
	2016	TG⁃2	WHU	LEO⁃GND	1550	1.6G	IM/DD
	2017	Shijian⁃13	HIT	GEO⁃GND	1550	5G	IM/DD
	2018	BD-3	SIOM/504/704	MEO-MEO， IGSO-IGSO	1550	1G	BPSK
	2019	Shijian⁃20	504	GEO⁃GND	1550	10G	QPSK
	2020	Xingyun⁃2	LaserFleet	LEO⁃LEO	1550	100M	‒
	2021	DMT-β	SIOM	LEO⁃LEO	1550	10G	OOK
	2023	Jilin-1	CGS	LEO-GND	1550	10G	OOK
	2024	Jilin-1	CGS	LEO-LEO	1550	100G	‒

Table 2. Comparison of different wide-range light beam deflection mechanism schemes

View table

Table 2. Comparison of different wide-range light beam deflection mechanism schemes

Option	Peculiarity
Pointing mirror structure	Simple structure， low pitch search area， and difficult heat control. Suitable for small range
U-shaped frame structure	Large azimuth and pitch search range， Couder light path， complex structure， large motor inertia， and difficult heat control. Suitable for large aperture telescopes
Single-arm L-shaped frame structure	Pitch can rotate continuously. Light weight， large pitching motor load， and difficult heat control. Suitable for small caliber
Periscope structure	Pitch can rotate continuously. Light weight， light load of azimuth and pitch motor， and easy heat control. Suitable for small caliber

Table 3. Comparison of different tracking and pointing part component schemes

View table

Table 3. Comparison of different tracking and pointing part component schemes

Tracking element	Option	Peculiarity
Tracking execution	Piezoelectric fast mirror	High execution frequency （2 kHz order） and small execution range （mrad magnitude）
Tracking execution	Voice coil fast mirror	Large execution range （meter level） and low execution frequency （100 Hz order）
Tracking detection	Focal plane camera	Linear field of view， high detection accuracy， large volume and weight， and low detection bandwidth （Hz level）
Tracking detection	Four-quadrant detector	High detection bandwidth （kHz level）， small size， and light weight. Supporting beaconless shallow modulation. Decreased channel receiving efficiency. With nonlinear region and relatively low detection accuracy

Table 4. Research status of typical adaptive optics technology at home and abroad^[43]

View table

Table 4. Research status of typical adaptive optics technology at home and abroad^[43]

Region	Time	Author/organization	Main performance
USA	1996	Tyson	Before wavefront correction， BER 2.3×10^-3； after wavefront correction， BER 5.5×10^-4
Europe	2011	Gregory	After wavefront correction， coupling efficiency is increased to 40%
France	2015	Japan Space Systems Laboratory	Coupling efficiency before wavefront correction is 1%， while that after wavefront correction is 10%
Canada	2022	Payam	Reinforcement learning wavelet-free AO system can effectively replace wavefront sensing AO system. Cost savings of 30%‒40%
China	2010	Han	Correction of order 5 Zernike coefficient. BER decreased from 1×10^-1 to 1×10^-6
China	2014	Liu	Before wavefront correction， D/r₀=6.5； after wavefront correction， D/r₀=1
China	2019	Yang	With unit 349 deformable mirror AO closed loop， BER is close to 1×10^-9
China	2020	Rui	For D/r₀=7， root mean square （RMS） value of wavefront is 0.42λ， and coupling efficiency is 2.2%. RMS value of wavefront after correction is 0.04λ， and coupling efficiency is 35.4%
China	2021	Zhang	Before wavefront correction， BER 1×10^-1； after wavefront correction， BER 3×10^-6

Tools

Get Citation

Copy Citation Text

Xia Hou, Zheqi Liu, Yidi Chang, Shaowen Lu, Fan Fang, Jiawei Li. Analysis on Development Status and Trend of Space Laser Communication Technology[J]. Chinese Journal of Lasers, 2024, 51(11): 1101013

Download Citation

EndNote(RIS)BibTex Plain Text

Set citation alerts for article

Save article for my favorites

Paper Information

Category: laser devices and laser physics

Received: Jan. 3, 2024

Accepted: Apr. 19, 2024

Published Online: Jun. 4, 2024

The Author Email: Li Jiawei (lijiawei@siom.ac.cn)

DOI:10.3788/CJL240448

CSTR:32183.14.CJL240448

Topics

laser devices and laser physics

Lasers and Laser Optics

Laser physics

laser manufacturing

Instrumentation, Measurement and Metrology

Table 1. Completed in-orbit technology verification of typical space laser communication terminals at home and abroad

Table 1. Completed in-orbit technology verification of typical space laser communication terminals at home and abroad

Table 2. Comparison of different wide-range light beam deflection mechanism schemes

Table 2. Comparison of different wide-range light beam deflection mechanism schemes

Table 3. Comparison of different tracking and pointing part component schemes

Table 3. Comparison of different tracking and pointing part component schemes

Table 4. Research status of typical adaptive optics technology at home and abroad[43]

Table 4. Research status of typical adaptive optics technology at home and abroad[43]

Table 4. Research status of typical adaptive optics technology at home and abroad^[43]

Table 4. Research status of typical adaptive optics technology at home and abroad^[43]