Development and environmental validation of a compact EDFA with integrated LNA+HPA for satellite optical communications
The Japanese National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) plans to launch a 6U CubeSat into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) during the Japanese fiscal year 2025. The primary payload for this mission is CubeSOTA (CubeSat’s Small Optical TrAnsponder), a miniaturized free-space optical...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Physics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphy.2025.1542043/full |
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| author | Alberto Carrasco-Casado Koichi Shiratama Dimitar Kolev Hiroyuki Tsuji Morio Toyoshima |
| author_facet | Alberto Carrasco-Casado Koichi Shiratama Dimitar Kolev Hiroyuki Tsuji Morio Toyoshima |
| author_sort | Alberto Carrasco-Casado |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Japanese National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) plans to launch a 6U CubeSat into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) during the Japanese fiscal year 2025. The primary payload for this mission is CubeSOTA (CubeSat’s Small Optical TrAnsponder), a miniaturized free-space optical communication terminal currently under development. A key component of this terminal is the optical amplifier, which must provide high transmission gain to overcome the significant free-space losses caused by the long distances involved in space communications. Additionally, to enable seamless integration into communication networks, the optical amplifier must support bidirectional communications. To achieve this, the amplifier incorporates a 2-in-1 design, integrating a high-power amplifier (HPA) for the transmission path and a low-noise amplifier (LNA) for the reception path. This paper presents the key features of this recently developed optical amplifier and its space qualification process, which is essential before its integration into the CubeSOTA terminal for launch. The developed amplifier features a 9 × 9.5 cm footprint for compatibility with the CubeSat standard, a reduced height of 3.6 cm and mass of 0.56 kg, while the HPA can deliver an output exceeding 2 W and the LNA is optimized for Doppler compensation and low noise with a noise figure below 4.5 dB. The environmental testing focuses on the amplifier’s most critical features, namely, its performance across varying temperature conditions in a vacuum and its power consumption under different operation modes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1b671721280a41cf8988e5fd4e70ca37 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2296-424X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Physics |
| spelling | doaj-art-1b671721280a41cf8988e5fd4e70ca372025-08-20T03:06:56ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Physics2296-424X2025-04-011310.3389/fphy.2025.15420431542043Development and environmental validation of a compact EDFA with integrated LNA+HPA for satellite optical communicationsAlberto Carrasco-Casado0Koichi Shiratama1Dimitar Kolev2Hiroyuki Tsuji3Morio Toyoshima4Space Communication Systems Laboratory, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Tokyo, JapanSpace Communication Systems Laboratory, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Tokyo, JapanSpace Communication Systems Laboratory, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Tokyo, JapanSpace Communication Systems Laboratory, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Tokyo, JapanWireless Networks Research Center, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Tokyo, JapanThe Japanese National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) plans to launch a 6U CubeSat into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) during the Japanese fiscal year 2025. The primary payload for this mission is CubeSOTA (CubeSat’s Small Optical TrAnsponder), a miniaturized free-space optical communication terminal currently under development. A key component of this terminal is the optical amplifier, which must provide high transmission gain to overcome the significant free-space losses caused by the long distances involved in space communications. Additionally, to enable seamless integration into communication networks, the optical amplifier must support bidirectional communications. To achieve this, the amplifier incorporates a 2-in-1 design, integrating a high-power amplifier (HPA) for the transmission path and a low-noise amplifier (LNA) for the reception path. This paper presents the key features of this recently developed optical amplifier and its space qualification process, which is essential before its integration into the CubeSOTA terminal for launch. The developed amplifier features a 9 × 9.5 cm footprint for compatibility with the CubeSat standard, a reduced height of 3.6 cm and mass of 0.56 kg, while the HPA can deliver an output exceeding 2 W and the LNA is optimized for Doppler compensation and low noise with a noise figure below 4.5 dB. The environmental testing focuses on the amplifier’s most critical features, namely, its performance across varying temperature conditions in a vacuum and its power consumption under different operation modes.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphy.2025.1542043/fullEDFAoptical amplifierHPALNAspace qualificationcubeSat |
| spellingShingle | Alberto Carrasco-Casado Koichi Shiratama Dimitar Kolev Hiroyuki Tsuji Morio Toyoshima Development and environmental validation of a compact EDFA with integrated LNA+HPA for satellite optical communications Frontiers in Physics EDFA optical amplifier HPA LNA space qualification cubeSat |
| title | Development and environmental validation of a compact EDFA with integrated LNA+HPA for satellite optical communications |
| title_full | Development and environmental validation of a compact EDFA with integrated LNA+HPA for satellite optical communications |
| title_fullStr | Development and environmental validation of a compact EDFA with integrated LNA+HPA for satellite optical communications |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development and environmental validation of a compact EDFA with integrated LNA+HPA for satellite optical communications |
| title_short | Development and environmental validation of a compact EDFA with integrated LNA+HPA for satellite optical communications |
| title_sort | development and environmental validation of a compact edfa with integrated lna hpa for satellite optical communications |
| topic | EDFA optical amplifier HPA LNA space qualification cubeSat |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphy.2025.1542043/full |
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