Beaconless Pointing for Deep-Space Optical Communication
Free space optical communication is of interest to NASA as a complement to existing radio frequency communication methods. The potential for an increase in science data return capability over current radio-frequency communications is the primary objective. Deep space optical comm
Selection note: Curated because “Beaconless Pointing for Deep-Space Optical Communication” covers free-space optical communication, deep-space; it materially informs GShips work on deep space communications.
Evidence boundary: NTRS provides open full text, but this conference paper was screened for curation rather than independently or domain reviewed; inclusion is contextual, not automatic claim evidence.
Stable record
ntrs-20170001298
Topic
communications-navigation
Type
Conference Paper
Publisher
Glenn Research Center
Authors
Swank, Aaron J.; Aretskin-Hariton, Eliot; Le, Dzu K.; Sands, Obed S.; Wroblewski, Adam
Year
2016
Editorial state
metadata curated editorial draft
Reviewer
GShips Project editorial synthesis
Official link checked
2026-07-25
Source-supplied abstract
Free space optical communication is of interest to NASA as a complement to existing radio frequency communication methods. The potential for an increase in science data return capability over current radio-frequency communications is the primary objective. Deep space optical communication requires laser beam pointing accuracy on the order of a few microradians. The laser beam pointing approach discussed here operates without the aid of a terrestrial uplink beacon. Precision pointing is obtained from an on-board star tracker in combination with inertial rate sensors and an outgoing beam reference vector. The beaconless optical pointing system presented in this work is the current approach for the Integrated Radio and Optical Communication (iROC) project.
Abstract text has not been adopted as a GShips conclusion.
What would change this record?
A newer or corrected version, a retraction, a verified duplicate, a material topic mismatch, a changed access state, or claim-level review would trigger a dated editorial update.
NTRS provides open full text, but this conference paper was screened for curation rather than independently or domain reviewed; inclusion is contextual, not automatic claim evidence.
Source-supplied titles, abstracts, authors, and dates may require correction against the canonical full text.
What would change this page?
A newer or corrected version, retraction, verified duplicate, material topic mismatch, changed access state, or claim-level assessment would change this record.
People, review, and conflicts
Prepared by
GShips Project
Editorial status
metadata-curated-editorial-draft
Editorial reviewer
GShips Project editorial synthesis
Last editorial review
No editorial-review date recorded
Independent review
pending
Independent reviewer
No independent reviewer assigned
Last independent review
No independent-review date exists
Last content edit
Not recorded separately
Official source or link verified
2026-07-25
Declared conflicts
The maintainer intends to explore a commercial venture based on some GShips work. No entity, outside funding, customer, sponsor, or indexed-organization relationship currently exists.