The Prototype of Wide-Aperture Optical System for Communication with Student Satellite

The paper presents the results of an optical system development for the communication with a student satellite. The realization feasibility of optical communication channels is estimated. The process of hardware and software elements design of an optical communication link is reflected. An optical system of 30 cm diameter was used for the experiment. The novel pointing control system design is proposed for tracking the satellite motion, which is capable to control a large aperture and heavy weight optical hardware. The principle of operation of this device is described. A simple protocol was developed for testing of optical communication link that was used in order to transmit, receive, encode and decode the data.