Optical communication is becoming more prevalent in orbit due to the need for increased data throughput. Nanosatellites, which are satellites that typically weigh less than 10 kg, are also becoming more common due to lower launch costs that enable the rapid testing of technology in a space environment. Nanosatellites are cheaper to launch than their larger counterparts and may be a viable option for communicating beyond Earth’s orbit, but have strict Size,Weight, and Power (SWaP) requirements. The Miniature Optical Communication Transceiver (MOCT) is a compact optical transceiver designed to provide modest data rates to SWaP constrained platforms, like nanosatellites. This paper will cover the optical amplifier characterization and simulated performance of the MOCT amplifier design that produces 1 kW peak power pulses and closes three optical links which include Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to Earth, LEO to LEO, and Moon to Earth. Additionally, a benchtop version of the amplifier design was constructed and was able to produce amplified pulses with 1.37 W peak power, including a 35.7% transmit optics loss, at a pump power of 500 mW. Finally, the modulator, seed laser, amplifier, receiver, and time-to-digital converter were all used together to measure the Bit Error Ratio (BER), which was 0.00257 for a received optical peak power of 176 nW.

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Constellations of CubeSats will benefit from high data rate communications links and precision time transfer and ranging. The CubeSat Laser Infrared CrosslinK (CLICK) mission intends to demonstrate low size, weight, and power (SWaP) laser communication terminals, capable of conducting full-duplex high data rate downlinks and crosslinks, as well as high precision ranging and time transfer. A joint project between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Florida (UF), and NASA Ames Research Center, CLICK consists of two separate demonstration flights: the initial CLICK-A, which will demonstrate a space-to-ground downlink and serve as a risk-reduction mission, and CLICK-B/C, a crosslink demonstration mission.The CLICK payloads each consist of laser transceivers and pointing, acquisition, and tracking (PAT) systems, and will fly on 3U CubeSat buses from Blue Canyon Technologies to perform their optical downlink and crosslink experiments in low Earth orbit (LEO). We present an update on the status of both the CLICK-A and CLICK-B/C payloads. At the time of writing, the final assembly and testing of the CLICK-A payload has been completed and the payload has been delivered for integration with the spacecraft bus. The final testing included the validation of the transmitter and the PAT system, the performance of both of which was characterized under various environmental test conditions and shown to meet their requirements for operation on orbit. On CLICK-B/C, the payload electronics have been designed and are under test. The optical bench of the payload has been assembled, the characterization of which is ongoing.

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