Overview and status of the laser communication relay demonstration

Abstract

NASA is presently developing the first all-optical high data rate satellite relay system, LCRD. To be flown on a geosynchronous satellite, it will communicate with DPSK and PPM modulation formats up to 1.244 Gbps. LCRD flight payload is being developed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The two ground stations, one on Table Mountain in CA, developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and another on a Hawaiian island will enable bi-directional relay operation and ground sites diversity experiments.