Photonics in Space

In an article from 2017 EFSTRATIOS KEHAYAS, GOOCH & HOUSEGO in Euro-Photonics magazine.

“Photonics is rapidly transforming into an enabling space technology with potential to cross-fertilize multiple markets in the space domain. Among them: navigation, remote sensing, and telecommunications, as well as ground-breaking scientific and planetary exploration missions. Because of advantages related to bandwidth, mass, power consumption, beam size and immunity to electromagnetic interference, photonic subsystems are now being considered in navigation satellite systems, Earth observation satellites, low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations and within telecom satellite payloads.”

The European Space Agency’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite MIRAS instrument shown during testing in 2007. The transmission of the master clock signal, the local oscillator and the received digitized data is performed with an optical fiber digital network called MOHA. (Courtesy of A. Le Floc’h/European Space Agency).

Advances were made and new applications found as the following shows from a web-article published in September 2020.

“Photonics has a broad range of scientific and technological applications that are practically limitless and include medical diagnostics, organic synthesis, communications, as well as fusion energy. This will enhance the quality of life in many areas such as communications and information technology, advanced manufacturing, defence, health, medicine, and energy. The signal transmission methods used in wireless photonic systems are digital baseband and RoF (Radio-over-Fiber) optical communication. Microwave photonics considered to be one of the emerging research fields.”

“The most promising space applications include, as examples, space-based Lidar systems, telescopes for deep-space observation, planetary missions, optical sensors for earth observation and health structure monitoring, avionic sub-systems, laser communication terminals, high capacity optical inter-satellite links for mega constellations, Terabit optical feeder links, high-speed intra-satellite optical interconnects for VHTS, quantum optical communication systems, space based optical interferometers for the detection of gravitational waves, power systems.”

In Canada Optical SatCom Consortium (OSC) is hosting a Virtual Open House on November 24th at 1PM Eastern Time.

The event is posted on the OSC website with the registration link.

This event was postponed we will inform you of the new date.

Link: https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Space_Photonics_A_Platform_Technology_for/a62298

Link: https://www.topicsforseminar.com/2020/09/space-photonics.html