IEEE aerospace conference space lidar technologies supporting upcoming NASA earth science & laser communications missions

Abstract

This paper describes Fibertek, Inc.'s participation in lidar technology development for recent and future NASA space lidar missions. The paper reports on progress on the upcoming ISS CATS and ICFSat-2 missions due to launch in 2014 and 2017 timeframes, respectively. Current and recently completed flight programs are discussed including the NASA CALIPSO transmitters, ISRO lunar altimeter, and ISS Orion docking technology. The paper also describes progress toward TRL-6 development for a deep space communications transmitter and carbon dioxide DIAL lidar transmitter.