Development and Space-Qualification of a Miniaturized CubeSat's 2-W EDFA for Space Laser Communications

TL;DR

This paper reports the development and space qualification of a compact 2-W Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) for CubeSat laser communications, enabling high-data-rate links with space-grade reliability.

Contribution

The paper introduces a miniaturized, space-qualified 2-W EDFA with the best power-to-size ratio for CubeSat applications, including performance and space qualification results.

Findings

Supports short-duration LEO-ground downlinks

Enables long-duration inter-satellite links

Proven space qualification and performance

Abstract

The Japanese National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) is currently developing a high-performance laser-communication terminal for CubeSats aiming at providing a high-datarate communication solution for LEO satellites requiring to transmit large volumes of data from the orbit. A key part of the communication system is a high-power optical amplifier capable of providing enough gain to the transmitted signals to be able to close the link on its counterpart's receiver with the smallest impact in terms of energy and power on the CubeSat's platform. This manuscript describes the development of a miniaturized 2-W space-grade 2-stage Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA) compatible with the CubeSat form factor, showing the best power-to-size ratio for a spaced-qualified EDFA to the best of the authors' knowledge. Performance results under realistic conditions as well as full space qualification and test are presented, proving that this module can support short-duration LEO-ground downlinks as well as long-duration inter-satellite links.