Description: The growing interest in CubeSat swarm and constellation systems by NASA, the DoD and commercial ventures has created a need for inter-satellite networks capable of handling large amount of data while simultaneously precisely synchronizing time and measuring the distances between the spacecraft. CrossTrac Engineering, Inc., in cooperation with our partners Professor Kerri Cahoy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Mr. Greg Huffman of GMH Engineering, has developed a free space optical communications and ranging system with inherent precision timing capabilities for 3U and larger CubeSats requiring intersatellite crosslinks under its current Phase II STTR. The CrossTrac team proposes to extend the capabilities and Technology Readiness Level of the NavComm optical terminal under this Phase II-E effort. Improved timing performance and greater data rates will be achieved through use of the next generation Xilinx RF SoC chip and enhanced integrated clock board. The TRL level of the NavComm terminal will be increased to 6 through environmental testing and ground test experiments with the PorTel optical ground station. The new optical board will be prepared for flight demonstration in the CLICK BC spacecraft, which will bring it to TRL 7. This work is directly aligned with the objectives of Technology Area 5.1 Optical Communications and Navigation in the NASA 2015 Technology Roadmap. Optical crosslinks are a key technology that will enable new multi-spacecraft missions, including large constellations for global data distribution and rapid response Earth imaging and asset tracking as well as swarm missions that can be formed into sparse aperture systems providing unprecedented image resolution. These swarm missions require precise relative position knowledge and time synchronization. The enhancements being sought in this development will increase the technical capabilities of the NavComm terminal and move it closer to flight demonstration.

Benefits: This terminal provides new capabilities to spacecraft operating in constellations and swarms, allowing them to synchronize time and measure the ranges between spacecraft. This supports NASA constellation and swarm missions, providing a high data rate network and precision metrology system. Swarms of spacecraft can be used to explore Earth-Sun interaction by measuring spatial variations in electromagnetic fields; create bistatic and multistatic radar systems; and create large area sparse aperture imagers with unprecedented resolution.

.The NavComm terminal enhances the capabilities of imaging and asset tracking constellations by allowing the movement of large amounts of data through a constellation quickly, reducing data transfer latency. Swarms of spacecraft, relying on the close coordination of action to perform a mission in unison, can use NavComm to create sparse aperture imaging systems with unprecedented resolution.