 |
 |
 |
Date Announced: 09 Dec 2013
iXBlue subsidiary involved in Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD) project being pursued jointly by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Early 2013, Photline supplied a seed laser and a ModBox lithium niobate based optical data modulation unit to ESA for incorporation into an all-optical, two-way space communications system. The system is the first ever to use an optical laser rather than radio waves to transmit data across space.
The LLCD project recently succeeded in establishing a communications link between an ESA ground station in Tenerife, the Canary Islands, and NASA’s LADEE (Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer) satellite 400 000 km away in orbit round the Moon.
Both the station and the satellite are fitted with terminals to transmit and receive pulses of highly focused, near-infrared laser light. Using these terminals, it has been possible to transfer data upwards and downwards in a robust, error-free fashion – and to do it very quickly.
Downlink reception has been demonstrated at data rates of up to 40 Mbps. The system has already been used to measure the time of travel of the satellite very accurately and from this to calculate its orbit around the Moon.
Henri Porte, CEO of Photline Technologies, said, "ESA has expressed its confidence in the practicality of high data-rate optical links and stated that the present system points the way to lighter, smaller communications systems capable of downloading massive amounts of data from spacecraft orbiting the Earth and distant planets.
We are thrilled to have been granted the opportunity to contribute to this ground-breaking project. It is a great reward for the enormous effort we have put into the development of lithium niobate opto-electronic technology over many years."
Photline Technologies holds a number of key patents covering lithium niobate technology and its use in opto-electronic devices such as the ModBox data modulation unit supplied to ESA.
The company is involved in the entire lithium niobate value chain, from the computer-assisted design of devices through their production to their characterisation and systems integration. The company was formed in 2000 as a spin-out from the University of Besançon, France, which is world-renowned for its work in this area.
Photline Technologies has worked closely with iXBlue for a number of years, particularly on the development of inertial navigation systems based on fiber-optic gyroscope technology. The company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of iXBlue in July 2013.
Source: Photline Technologies
E-mail: via web site
Web Site: www.photline.com
| © 2024 SPIE Europe |
|
