Development of optical ground stations in Japan and application as testbeds (Invited Paper)

We constructed new testbeds for free-space laser communication. New small optical ground stations with 40-cm telescopes are installed in Kashima, Koganei, and Kobe, Japan and a new 2-meter telescope is constructed in Kashima. The mobile optical ground station consists of two vehicles, one mounting the telescope and the other mounting the power supply and control system, and is kept in Koganei, Japan. The 2-meter telescope is intended to be used for laser communications such as large-volume communications and communications between the Moon and Earth, taking advantage of its large aperture. The small optical ground station is relatively easy to exchange devices, and we believe that it is a ground station that can easily demonstrate a variety of devices. The mobile optical ground station is designed to operate in any location and is suitable for experiments in any location. We show details of the instruments that these ground stations are equipped with will also be included in this paper.