Lunar Inter-Spacecraft Optical Communicator

Chascii is proposing the development of an inter-spacecraft omnidirectional optical communicator (ISOC) that will provide fast connectivity and navigation information to small spacecraft forming a swarm or a constellation in cislunar space. The ISOC proposed for cislunar applications operates at 1550nm, employs a dodecahedron body holding 6 optical telescopes and 20 external arrays of detectors for angle-of-arrival determination. The proposed ISOC will provide full sky (4pi; steradian) coverage and gigabit connectivity among smallsats forming a swarm or constellation. It will also provide continuous positional information among these spacecraft including bearing, elevation, and range. We also expect the ISOC to provide fast low-latency connectivity to assets on the surface of the moon such as landers, rovers, instruments, and astronauts. During Phase I we propose to conduct a thorough study of the cislunar ISOC including key factors that affect angular accuracy and available ranging techniques suitable for ISOC accurate range calculation. We will also perform a conceptual design of the ISOC that will lead to successful prototype construction and testing during Phase II. We believe the ISOC, once fully developed, willnbsp;provide commercial, high data rate connectivity to future scientific, military, and commercial missions around cislunar space and beyond.