Small optical inter-satellite communication system for small and micro satellites

Small optical inter-satellite communication system to be installed into small and micro satellites flying on LEO are designed and experimentally verified of its fundamental functions. Small, light weighted, power efficient as well as usable data transmission rate optical inter-satellite communication system is one of promising approach to provide realtime data handling and operation capabilities for micro and small satellite constellations which have limited conditions of payload. Proposed system is designed to connect satellites with 4500 (km) long maximum to be able to talk with ground station continuously by relaying LEO satellites even when they are in their own maneuvers. Connecting satellites with 4500 (km) long with keeping steady data rate, accurate pointing and tracking method will be one of a crucial issue. In this paper, we propose a precious pointing and tracking method and system with a miniature optics and experimentally verified almost 10 (μrad) of pointing accuracy with more than 500 (mrad) of angular coverage.