Development of a low SWaP SDA compatible Optical Communications Terminal (OCT)

Reliable communication links are a critical piece of the infrastructure underpinning the USSF Proliferated Space Warfighter Architecture (PWSA), and Optical Communication Terminals (OCT) are the backbone of this critical infrastructure. The SDA Optical Communication Terminal (OCT) standard has been crucial in getting multiple vendors to rally around a common standard, ensuring interoperability and fostering a competitive ecosystem. However, current SDA terminals present size, weight, and power challenges for small satellites (e.g., ESPA-class and smaller). Blue Cubed has developed Cobalt, a 5 kg and 30 W OCT capable of gigabit per second link rates. Cobalt incorporates a variety of features to streamline integration with the host spacecraft and to simplify on orbit operation (e.g., it includes an integrated star tracker for self-orienting). Additionally, Cobalt incorporates a patented differential tracking approach that makes the design very robust against optical misalignment while also benefiting manufacturability (through relaxed mechanical tolerances). The initial prototype of Cobalt is fully integrated with a gimbal and will complete qualification testing later this year.In this STTR phase I effort, Blue Cubed working in collaboration with the University of Colorado Boulder proposes to upgrade the Cobalt transceiver architecture to be compatible with the SDA OCT standard. This Phase 1 project will scope adaption of the current Blue Cubed Cobalt design for interoperability with other SDA terminals.  By adapting the low-SWaP Cobalt terminal to be SDA compatible, we expect to broaden the types of spacecraft that can be seamlessly connected into the PWSA.