Synchronous Tests of Laser Active ARTEMIS Satellite at Different Ground Stations
Abstract
In July 2001, the geostationary satellite ARTEMIS with laser communication terminal OPALE on board was launched. Successful laser communication sessions were performed between ARTEMIS and low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellite SPOT-4. Regular laser communication experiments between the Optical Ground Station (OGS) of ESA and ARTEMIS were also performed. The laser communication sessions were successfully established between LEO satellite KIRARI and ARTEMIS. A laser communication link between LEO satellites with the data rate of 5.625 Gbps (5100 km distance) was established by the TESAT Spacecom in 2008. First laser communication experiments between the LADEE spacecraft at the lunar orbit and Earth OGS with a rate of 622 Mbps were realized in October 2013. The amount of information sent from telecommunication satellites located at the geostationary orbit is constantly increasing. There is a certain demand in high speed laser link data transmission between ground stations and satellites. For some LEO satellites, the direct transmission of information to a ground station is required. To reduce the influence of atmosphere, some of ground stations located in different climatic regions are needed. The Main Astronomical Observatory of Ukraine (MAO) have developed a compact laser communication system named LACES (Laser Atmospheric and Communicational Experiments with Satellites) using the Cassegrain focus of its 0.7 m telescope. The laser link between the LACES terminal of MAO and the OPALE terminal of ARTEMIS was established. During the pointing, OPALE terminal performs the beacon laser scanning of the territory where a MAO ground station is located. Several experimental observations of OPALE beacon laser scanning by ground stations located in different regions of Ukraine took place in 2012-2013 years. During the sessions, laser beacon peaks from OPALE were detected by the stations in Kyiv, Mykolaiv (500 km from Kyiv), Yevpatoriya (800 km from Kyiv), Odesa, and other stations. Selected results of the experiments are presented in the report.
- Publication:
-
Proc. International Conference on Space Optical Systems and Applications (ICSOS) 2014
- Pub Date:
- May 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014sosa.confP...3K
- Keywords:
-
- telescopes;
- instrumentation;
- laser;
- radiation;
- communication;
- atmosphere;
- satellites