FREEDOM PHOTONICS LLC — National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR Phase I: H9

Description

Freedom Photonics proposes to develop revolutionary miniaturized Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) transceivers that are so compact that they are suited for CubeSats. The transceiver will realize low cost, size, weight and power through high power Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) technology and non-mechanical beam steering technology. Unlike RF, FSOC is inherently power efficient due to the high antenna gain from small optical wavelengths and is hard to detect and intercept. Operating in optical bands with orders of magnitude greater bandwidth, FSOC transceiver would be of great benefit to ease the bandwidth crowding in RF small satellite communications. Compact FSOC transceiver would be of great utility for civilian satellites requiring communication bandwidth without the competition for licensing crowded RF spectrum. Modular orbital FSO relays acting as cross-links and deep-space transceivers would mitigate the atmospheric effects and provide spatial redundancy for ground links.