Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2006 · 26 citations · 0 references
EngineeringAerospace EngineeringSystems EngineeringOpticsPhotonicsSpacecraft DesignLaser OpticsLaser PhysicsMission RequirementsSafety RequirementsSpacecraft TestSystems Engineering For SpacecraftDesign ValidationDesign Validation TestingLidar InstrumentationLidar SensorsLidar SystemsQualificationValidation Study Design
Space-based missions impose a unique set of requirements on laser designs. The development of the CALIPSO Laser Transmitter Subsystem (LTS) began with a successful lifetime test using the Risk Reduction Laser (RRL), followed with an intensive design validation phase using prototype flight hardware, and completed with formal qualification of the flight hardware. We will describe this process in more detail and review the issues encountered and lessons learned. From this experience we developed a set of guidelines for designing and building future space-based lasers.