Development Status of the Inter-Spacecraft Optical Communicator

Chascii is currently developing the inter-spacecraft omnidirectional optical communicator (ISOC) to provide fast connectivity and navigation information to small spacecraft forming a swarm or a constellation in LEO and cislunar space. The ISOC operates at 1550 nm and employs a dodecahedron body that holds six optical telescopes and 20 external arrays of detectors for determining the angle of arrival of the incoming beams. Additionally, the ISOC features six fast avalanche photodetector receivers for high-speed data rate connectivity. The ISOC should be suitable for distances ranging from a few kilometers to a few thousand kilometers. It will provide ubiquitous coverage and gigabit connectivity among smallsats, forming a constellation around the moon. It will also provide continuous positional information among these spacecraft, including bearing, elevation, and range. We also expect the ISOC to provide fast, low-latency connectivity to assets on the lunar surface, such as landers, rovers, instruments, and astronauts. Chascii is currently developing a lunar ISOC, including all its transceivers, optics, and processing units. We are developing the ISOC as a key candidate to enable LunaNet. In this paper, we will present experimental results of angle-of-arrival testing using various experimental apparatus. We believe the ISOC, once fully developed, will provide commercial, high-data-rate connectivity to future scientific, military, and commercial missions around LEO, cislunar space, and beyond.