An Innovative 10-meter Telescope Design for Laser Communication Ground Station

Current and future NASA missions require high bandwidth communications with earth. Laser optical communications satisfy communications requirements for deep-space missions, but economical 10-meter class optical telescopes are required to create the next generation of laser optical communications network. The proposed research seeks to identify and address the performance requirements for a laser ground-station with an innovative and economical telescope design. Composite Optics, Inc. will study candidate materials for the primary mirror segments and down-select to the best solution for this application. An Arecibo-type fixed or azimuth only telescope configuration will be studied as a candidate design and the primary mirror support structure will be designed and modeled using advanced composite material properties and finite element methods. The results of the study will be documented in a final report.