Analysis of Coaxiality Error Induced by the Cube Corner Retro-Reflector Geometrical and Assembly Errors of an Acquisition, Pointing, and Tracking System

Abstract

Satellite laser communication is a promising technology for the next-generation communication system. Its communication performance is subject to the APT beam-pointing accuracy. One of the most important problems is reducing the coaxiality error before the APT starts working. However, the coaxiality error is difficult to correct effectively owing to the lack of empirical guidance based on qualitative analysis. We study the inducement that will generate coaxiality errors. The mathematical model of the influence of the CCR dihedral angle error and planeness error on the spot centroid measurement are built, and an analysis is performed. The model of the beam-pointing error induced by the APT element’s assembly error is built, and the pointing error change rule is explored. Furthermore, the coaxiality performance simulation is performed in the presence of a CCR geometrical error while considering the assembly error. The results show that the coaxiality error has a nonlinear characteristic. The CCR planeness error has a greater influence on coaxiality deviation than that of dihedral angle error under certain conditions. This research is relevant to the design and test work of the APT system.