Paper 13355-10
Paper 13355-10
Optical phased arrays for space-to-space communication
28 January 2025 • 2:25 PM - 2:45 PM PST | Moscone South, Room 208 (Level 2)
Abstract
Optical phased arrays (OPA) offer the promise of all electronic beam steering, adaptive optic compensation, aperture scaling, and reduced moving parts. Historically, optical phased arrays have found applications in directed energy, LIDAR, and down-link free-space optical communication ground receivers. However, optical phased arrays for space to space (S2S) crosslinks have not received as much attention and present some unique challenges. This talk will describe an architecture that seeks to address the following challenges for S2S optical communications: 1) the OPA requires beam agility on both the TX and RX with point-ahead capability, 2) the OPA should reduce the number of mechanisms to be competitive, and 3) the OPA should provide a path to lower Size, Weight, and Power (SWAP).
Presenter
Juan Montoya
The Aerospace Corp. (United States)
Dr. Juan Montoya has worked in the field of laser communications and directed energy. Dr. Montoya is currently the Associate Director in the Optical Communications Department at the Aerospace Corporation. Dr. Montoya has previously held technical staff positions at Motorola, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and Northrop Grumman. Dr. Montoya received his Masters and PhD from MIT in Electrical Engineering. His current interests are in space to space and space to ground laser communications.