Optical Surfaces has received an order from Tesat-Spacecom for a high-performance, thermally stabilised beam expander to verify optical performance of its laser communication terminals (LCTs).
The beam expander will be used as part of the Tesat Optical System Test Bed for verification of the optical performance of its LCTs.
Tesat-Spacecom is a designer and manufacturer of payload equipment for communication satellites.
The US Missile Defence Agency's NFire satellite, built by General Dynamics, and Germany's Terrasar-X satellite each carry a Tesat LCT.
This equipment enables point-to-point data transfers with high data volume.
The technology offers a range of 45,000km and a transfer rate of more than 5Gigabit per second and communication via laser allows a 10-times higher data rate compared with a usual microwave link.
Optical Surfaces was selected to produce the critical 10x beam expander because of its track record in preparing high-performance optical systems for telescope and space projects.
Optical Surfaces will produce two concave, off-axis parabolic mirrors with a combined wavefront accuracy of lambda/35rms that form the principal optical elements of the common focus 10x beam expander.
The high surface accuracy achieved during manufacturing will enable the beam expander to provide sustained high optical performance over the complete field of view (+/- 0.1-deg at large aperture).
Manufactured in Invar, the beam expander was designed to be used in vacuum at 10-6mbar and offers high thermal stability for thermal gradients that may be as much as 10C along the length of the instrument.
