CubeSat-Scale High-Speed Laser Downlinks

The recent surge in the development of new commercial services hosted by satellites in low Earth orbit will lead to rapid increases in the demand for data downlinking, presenting a challenge for conventional radio-frequency communication systems. Optical communication systems offer a significant but so far unrealized potential for ultrahigh- volume downlinking. A number of demonstration laser communication missions have flown in space, but no optical systems are in routine operational use. Existing optical communication systems are typically too large for use in next-generation small commercial satellite systems.