The JPL Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory Test Bed for the Future Optical Deep Space Network

The lower power consumption and lower mass of high-bandwidth optical telecommunications relative to RF telecommunications make laser communication technology extremely attractive for returning data from future NASA/JPL deep-space probes. JPL is building a research and development optical communications telescope laboratory (OCTL) at its Table Mountain Facility in Southern California to evaluate strategies for supporting operations from future deep-space optical links. The telescope is scheduled for delivery in the spring of 2003, and among its early experiments will be the use of retroreflector-bearing satellites to assess multiplebeam strategies to mitigate the effects of atmospheric scintillation on the uplink. Designed to be an optical antenna for both daytime and nighttime communications, the OCTL will be a test bed for evaluating strategies to support communications at small Sun–Earth–probe angles.