Design of a Free-Space Optical Communication Module for Small Satellites

Communication bottlenecks, particularly in the downlink direction, are a common problem for many CubeSat developers. As described herein, a CubeSat module for a CubeSat comprises an optical transmitter to transmit data to a remote terminal, a receiver to acquire an optical beacon from a remote terminal, and a fine-pointing module operably and directly coupleable to a coarse-pointing module of the CubeSat. The fine-pointing module is configured to point the optical transmitter toward the remote terminal with an accuracy range that overlaps with an accuracy range of the coarse-pointing module of the CubeSat so as to establish a communications link between the CubeSat and the remote terminal over a low-Earth-orbit (LEO) distance.