A Compact Optical Iodine Frequency Reference on a Sounding Rocket

We present an absolute optical frequency reference based on molecular iodine and its application on a sounding rocket mission. The iodine frequency reference is based on modulation transfer spectroscopy of the transition R(56)32-0 and currently provides a frequency stability of few times 10– 13 at 1 s averaging time. The iodine reference will be compared to an rf referenced dual frequency comb during a sounding rocket flight, scheduled for April 2018.