Overview of the NASA/JPL Lasercom program

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Lesh, James R.

Affiliations: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA Tel.: +1 818 354 2766; Fax: +1 818 393 6142; E‐mail: [email protected]

Abstract: The NASA‐funded optical communications program being conducted at JPL is described. The spacecraft transceiver terminal developments, a test infrastructure for assessing the performance of future space terminals, an atmospheric visibility monitoring program, some recent systems‐level demonstrations, and a communications technology roadmap for planetary missions over the next 25 years are presented.

Journal: Space Communications, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 65-70, 1998