SBIR Phase I: An Interplanetary Smallsat for Fast Connectivity, Navigation, and Positioning

小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在在地月和深空部署商业空间平台，为空间用户提供快速连接，导航和定位。这个cislunar网络将包括低地球轨道、地球同步轨道和月球轨道上的节点，为科学、商业和军事应用创建一个安全和隐蔽的千兆网络。该项目将开发一种革命性的航天器，它将成为新网络的核心。这款产品将是一款小巧而灵活的航天器，它使用激光、一种新颖的架构和机器学习软件来提供对周围环境的高数据速率全向覆盖。该公司计划将这颗卫星的集群作为网络节点。据设想，空间用户可利用这些行星际小型卫星（及其网络）实现千兆位连接，并在地月和深空进行精确导航和定位，该项目将开发一种新型小型卫星，内置光学通信系统。它将配备两个不同的光通信终端，一个用于远程连接，另一个用于短程集群连接。小卫星的远程终端由六个光学收发器组成，均匀分布在航天器的身体周围，以提供全方位的覆盖。收发器将完全集成到一个快速处理器中并由其控制。这颗小型卫星将拥有一个相干调制架构，工作波长约为1550纳米。在这个项目中所追求的发射机设计包括一个分布反馈激光二极管，相位调制器，光放大器，环行器和准直器。所有这些组件将通过光纤连接。种子激光器将产生10毫瓦的激光束，该激光束通过相位调制器，在相位调制器中以高速（每秒10-100吉比特）进行调制。在调制器之后，调制光束通过光学放大器被增强，并通过准直器以产生准直的高功率光束。准直器将光束发射到自由空间，并将其引导到转向镜以覆盖其视场。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to deploy a commercial space platform in cislunar and deep space to provide fast connectivity, navigation, and positioning to space users. This cislunar network will include nodes in low-Earth Orbit, Geosynchronous orbit and Lunar orbit to create a secure and covert gigabit network for scientific, commercial, and military applications. This project will develop a revolutionary spacecraft that will be the heart of the new network. This product will be a small yet nimble spacecraft that uses lasers, a novel architecture, and machine learning software to provide high-data-rate omnidirectional coverage of its surroundings. The company plans to place clusters of this satellite as network nodes. It is envisioned that space users can use these interplanetary small satellites (and their network) for gigabit connectivity as well as accurate navigation and positioning in cislunar and deep space.This project will develop a novel small satellite with embedded optical communications systems. It will be equipped with two distinct optical communications terminals, one for long-range connectivity and the second one for short-range, swarm connectivity. The small satellite’s long-range terminal consists of six optical transceivers evenly distributed around the body of the spacecraft to provide omnidirectional coverage. The transceivers will be fully integrated into and commanded by a fast processor. The small satellite will have a coherent modulation architecture operating at around 1550 nanometers. The transmitter design to be pursued during this project includes a distributed feedback laser diode, a phase modulator, an optical amplifier, a circulator, and a collimator. All these components will be connected by optical fibers. The seed laser will produce a 10-milliwatt laser beam, which is passed through the phase modulator where it is modulated at high speeds (10-100 gigabit per second). After the modulator, the modulated beam is boosted via an optical amplifier and passed through a collimator to generate a collimated, high-power beam. The collimator launches the beam into free space and directs it to a steering mirror for coverage of its field of regard. It is envisioned that the system could achieve transmission speeds as high as 100 gigabit per second.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.