Beaconless acquisition for ISL and SGL, summary of 3 years operation in space and on ground

Abstract

Starting November 2007 and continuing through the present TESAT has been conducting successfully optical inter-satellite communication links utilizing a secondary laser communication payload built by Tesat-Spacecom funded by DLR. Two satellites, TerraSAR-X (TSX), a commercial SAR satellite partially funded by the German Space Agency (DLR) and NFIRE (Near-Field InfraRed Experiment) are equipped with one laser communication payload each.