<title>Lasercom pointing, acquisition, and tracking control using a CCD-based tracker</title>

Abstract

A CCD-based spatial acquisition and tracking subsystem has been developed to perform both spatial acquisition and tracking functions for a lasercom instrument. By operating the CCD in the 'windowed' read mode, the detector can achieve both wide field of view required for spatial acquisition and the high update rate needed for effective platform jitter compensation. Furthermore, spatial tracking subsystem based on the CCD tracker requires only one steering mirror to perform both line-of-sight stabilization and point ahead functions, and provides means to optically close the point ahead control loop without additional sensors. When incorporated into the lasercom system designs, the array tracking concept can lead to reduced system complexity and hence a lower system cost.