Laser beaming demonstrations to high-orbit satellites
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States); and others
Laser power beaming to satellites and orbital transfer vehicles requires the accurate pointing of a low-divergence laser beam to its target, whether the target is in the sunlight or the earth`s shadow. The Air Force Phillips Laboratory (AFPL) has demonstrated reduction in the image size of stars by a factor of 10 or more by using laser beacons and adaptive optics for atmospheric compensation. This same technology is applicable to reducing the divergence of laser beams propagated from earth to space. A team of Phillips Laboratory, COMSAT Laboratories, and Sandia National Laboratories plans to demonstrate the state of the art in this area with laser-beaming demonstrations to high-orbit satellites. The demonstrations will utilize the 1.5-m diameter telescope with adaptive optics at the AFPL Starfire Optical Range (SOR) and a ruby laser provided by the Air Force and Sandia (1--50 kW and 6 ms at 694.3 nm). The first targets will be corner-cube retro-reflectors left on the moon by the Apollo 11, 14, and 15 landings. The authors will attempt to use adaptive optics for atmospheric compensation to demonstrate accurate and reliable beam projection with a series of shots over a span of time and shot angle. The authors will utilize the return signal from the retro-reflectors to help determine the beam diameter on the moon and the variations in pointing accuracy caused by atmospheric tilt. This will be especially challenging because the retro-reflectors will need to be in the lunar shadow to allow detection over background light. If the results from this experiment are encouraging, the authors will at a later date direct the beam at a COMSAT satellite in geosynchronous orbit as it goes into the shadow of the earth. The authors will utilize an onboard monitor to measure the current generated in the solar panels on the satellite while the beam is present. A threshold irradiance of about 4 W/m{sup 2} on orbit is needed for this demonstration.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratory
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 51889
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940142--; ISBN 0-8194-1414-X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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