Infrastructure Strategy to Enable Optical Communications for Next-Generation Heliophysics Missions

TL;DR

This paper discusses how optical communication technology can enhance data transmission capabilities for next-generation heliophysics missions, enabling higher data volumes, longer distances, and faster space weather warnings.

Contribution

It presents a strategic framework for implementing optical communications to support advanced heliophysics instruments and inter-satellite links in deep space missions.

Findings

Optical communications can significantly increase data transfer ranges.

Enhanced optical links enable faster space weather warnings.

Supports higher data volumes from distant space instruments.

Abstract

To expand frontiers and achieve measurable progress, instruments such as hyperspectral imagers are increased in resolution, field of view, and spectral resolution and range, leading to dramatically higher data volumes. Increasingly, data need to be returned from greater distances, ranging from the Sun-earth L1/ L2 points at 1.5 million km, to L4/L5 halo orbits at 1 AU, to several AU in the case of planetary probes. Optical communications can significantly reduce resource competition, requiring significantly fewer passes per day and/or shorter overall passes, and thereby enable far greater, transformative science return from individual missions and the capacity to support multiple such missions within a smaller ground network. Optical communications also provides superior performance and increased ranges for Inter-satellite Links (ISL) from 2,000 to 10,000 km for Swarms and DSMs. Lastly, the only way to guarantee timely space weather warnings (with a target of 15 minutes latency) is through space relays in MEO or GEO orbits, a strategy which also includes optical communications.