Overview of optical data relay system in JAXA

To meet increasing demands of high-speed data transmission, JAXA has started to develop a new optical data relay system. This system provides 1.8Gbit/s data relay service through optical inter-satellite link and Ka-band feeder link using JDRS, a data relay satellite. The first user satellite is the Advanced Optical Satellite, a Japanese optical observation satellite in low earth orbit. As a total data relay system, the data relay satellite, Ka-band ground stations and two optical terminals for JDRS and the Advanced Optical Satellite are developed together. Target launch year of JDRS is 2019 in Japanese fiscal year. This paper describes the development plan and technologies of the optical data relay system.