The assembled telescope and optical bench assembly for the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration is shown here in a test fixture. The primary mirror is 4 inches in diameter.

Advanced Lasercom Systems and Operations

We design, prototype, analyze, and test laser communications systems suitable for a variety of government platforms. Our research team develops techniques to mitigate fluctuations in signal power caused by turbulence and to lessen wavefront distortions. We perform atmospheric modeling and simulation, and build accurate acquisition, tracking, and pointing subsystems to support highly directional, low-probability-of-intercept communication links. Our major efforts include the demonstration of a low-cost, high-performance airborne laser communications terminal and development of a test capability to ensure interoperability among terminals.

Featured Projects

A rendition of a communications payload on its spacecraft host, with laser links over the Earth connecting Hawaii and California.
laser communications
Optical communications technologies decades in the making at Lincoln Laboratory were transferred to NASA for its first two-way laser relay communications system.

Advancing Our Research

Events

May
22 - 23
MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, Massachusetts

Featured Publications

Circuit-fed tile-approach configuration for millimeter-wave spatial power combining

Jan 1
IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., Vol. 50, No. 1, Part 1, January 2002, pp. 17-21.

Comparison of two flat reflector-type designs for dual-polarization, dual-band operation

Jul 8
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Int. Synp. 2001 Digest, Vol. 2, 8-13 July 2001, pp. 288-291.

Accurate modeling of dual dipole and slot elements used with photomixers for coherent terahertz output power

Jun 1
IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., Vol. 49, No. 6, June 2001, pp. 1032-8.