The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration

This paper provides an overview of NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Project (LCRD). LCRD will fly two optical communications terminals on a Loral commercial communications satellite in GEO orbit to communicate with two ground stations. It is a joint project between NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (JPL), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL). LCRD will operate for a minimum of two years in GEO, demonstrating how optical communications can meet NASA’s growing need for higher data rates and be a path finder for providing optical services on NASA’s Next Generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellite. In addition, the optical communications capability of LCRD will allow it to serve as a developmental testbed. This paper reviews the mission concept and preliminary designs for the flight and ground optical segments, and reports preliminary conclusions from several trade studies conducted.