Development and Space-Qualification of a Miniaturized CubeSat’s 2-W EDFA for Space Laser Communications

Abstract

The Japanese National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) is currently developing a high-performance laser-communication terminal for CubeSats aimed at providing a high-datarate communication solution for LEO satellites requiring transmission of large volumes of data from orbit. A key aspect of the communication system is a high-power optical amplifier capable of providing enough gain to the transmitted signals to be able to close the link on its counterpart’s receiver with the smallest impact in terms of energy and power on the CubeSat’s platform. This manuscript describes the development of a miniaturized 2-W space-grade 2-stage erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) compatible with the CubeSat form factor, showing the best power-to-size ratio for a space-qualified EDFA to the best of the authors’ knowledge. Performance results under realistic conditions as well as full space qualification and test are presented, proving that this module can support short-duration LEO-ground downlinks as well as long-duration intersatellite links.