Cube4CubeSat / CubeLCT

Optical communication for micro satellites

In contrast to the other OSIRIS payloads, OSIRIS4CubeSat does not aim to further increase the data rate, but rather to achieve a highly compact system design that enables the use of optical communication even on small satellites such as CubeSats.

In order to further promote the miniaturization of laser communication terminals, a system design was developed for OSIRIS4CubeSat on behalf of the industrial partner Tesat Spacecom. The system is based on the close integration of electronics and opto-mechanics, and thus allows for a highly compact design. The result of this development is, to present knowledge, the smallest laser terminal in the world! In parallel with the development work at DLR, Tesat already started to prepare for serial production of the terminal at their site in Backnang, so that the system is ready for serial production in larger quantities by the time of its demonstration mission. The Tesat terminal is marketed under the name CubeLCT.

The first demonstration of a complete end-to-end transmission took place successfully as part of the PIXL-1 mission, which was conducted jointly by Tesat and DLR. On January 24, 2021 it  launched into space with SpaceX from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

OSIRIS4CubeSat - Patch
Optical Ground Station
The Optical Ground Station Oberpfaffenhofen (OGS-OP) was developed to obtain scientific measurement data in a wide variety of scenarios of optical free space communication. It is a versatile instrument for optical data transmission and measurement of the atmospheric-optical transmission channel.
Image: 2/7, Credit:
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OSIRIS4CubeSat - CubeSat with Laser terminal
The small satellite PIXL-1 can take pictures of the earth with a high-resolution camera and send them to the ground with CubeLCT via a laser link.
Image: 7/7, Credit:
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Links and more Information

October 30, 2023

Demonstration of data transmission from a microsatellite by laser

Small satellites are becoming ever more compact and powerful. The technology of classic radio channels is reaching its limits with the ever-increasing number of satellites. Laser communication offers solutions for the efficient transmission of large amounts of data without interfering with other channels.

January 24, 2021

A pioneering launch – compact satellite PIXL-1 carries the world's smallest laser terminal into orbit

The small satellite PIXL-1 was successfully launched into orbit on January 24, 2021 at 16:00 CET from the US spaceport Cape Canaveral on a Falcon 9 launcher from the US company SpaceX. On board the satellite is the world's smallest laser transmitter terminal: "OSIRIS4CubeSat".

April 27, 2018

Laserkommunikation für CubeSats wird Realität

Das Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) hat zusammen mit der Firma Tesat Spacecom erstmals ein System entwickelt, das die Übertragung von großen Datenmengen per Laser auf Kleinstsatelliten ermöglicht. Das miniaturisierte und extrem leistungsstarke Laserterminal bestand den "Critical Design Review" in allen Punkten und wird nun gefertigt.