Description
Objective: The objective of this activity is to simplify optical feeder links systems in Optical Ground Stations by replacing the secondary mirror with an active (deformable) one and to demonstrate the improvement in transmission budget and complexity. Targeted Improvements: 30% increased optical throughput in optical communication ground stations. 20% reduction of complexity in adaptive optics and beam pre-distortion in feeder-link systems. Reduced optical power on the Deformable Mirror and reduction of polarization impact. Description:Including adaptive optics in a telescope reduces system transmission by more than 50%. One of the main componentsof adaptive optics is a deformable mirror (DM) for wavefront correction. The DM can be inserted in the optical train of the telescope, which requires some relay optics to re-image the telescope entrance pupil on the small DM. Alternatively, as opposed to the post-focal configuration, one can upgrade the telescope with an active secondary mirror (ASM) aiming at compensating the atmospheric turbulences. The technical specifications of the ASM and of the AO loop should be adapted for optical communications application (e.g. diameter of the M2 smaller than typical large astronomical telescopes, proper dual coating for 1064nm 1550nm, coating withstandinghigh power lasers, Tip/Tilt control range, wavefront sensor type, control bandwidth). An ASM offers multiple benefits, namely: it delivers a corrected wavefront to all the instruments of the telescope, with minimal number of optical surfaces, which in turn simplifies the design and the integration of the instruments and warrants higher throughputs. Furthermore, the thermal load is reduced, the polarization changes are minimized.The activity will design, develop and implement an adaptive secondary mirror prototype in a ground-based telescope and demonstrate its performance in a laser communication link with the Alphasat satellite. Procurement Policy: C(1) = Activity restricted to non-prime contractors (incl. SMEs). For additional information please go to: http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Business_with_ESA/Small_and_Medium_Sized_En…