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 took place as part of the PIXL mission, which was conducted jointly by Tesat and DLR. On January 24, 2021 it launched successfully into space with SpaceX from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
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.
Credit: DLR.
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In January 2021, the small satellite PIXL-1 was launched into space for the first time with CubeLCT on board. Here it is integrated into the launch pod, and ready for transport to the launch site and installation into the rocket.
Credit: GomSpace.
The small satellite PIXL-1 was successfully launched into orbit on January 24, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. CET from the US spaceport Cape Canaveral with a Falcon-9 launcher from the US company SpaceX.
Credit: SpaceX.
The highly compact communication terminal CubeLCT was developed at the DLR Institute of Communications and Navigation on behalf of Tesat Spacecom. It is prepared for series production and can be integrated and adjusted with just a few degrees of freedom.
Credit: DLR (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
The world’s smallest laser communication terminal, which was developed at the DLR Institute of Communications and Navigation on behalf of Tesat Spacecom, is based on a highly compact system design with a closely interlocked combination of electronics and opto-mechanics, which allows for the use of optical communication even on the smallest of satellites.
Telescope of the Transportable Optical Ground Station (TOGS) of the DLR Institute of Communications and Navigation. TOGS can be used in a variety of application scenarios, such as data links with aircrafts, UAVs and satellites as communication partners. It can also be used in the event of a disaster to transmit real-time information to rescue workers.
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.
Credit: DLR (CC-BY 3.0).
Der Kleinsatellit PIXL-1 ist am 24. Januar 2021 um 16:00 Uhr MEZ vom US-Weltraumbahnhof Cape Canaveral erfolgreich mit einer Falcon-9-Trägerrakete der US-Firma SpaceX in die Erdumlaufbahn gestartet.
Hinweis: Dieses Video wurde zu großen Teilen vor Beginn der Corona-Pandemie gedreht. Alle anderen Sequenzen wurden unter Einhaltung strenger Hygiene- und Abstandsregeln gedreht.
MBit/s maximum for Downlink
Watt maximum for Downlink
Gramm
This are 95 x 95 x 30 mm.