| Spacecraft | CLICK (CubeSat Laser Infrared CrosslinK) |
|---|---|
| Spacecraft type | CubeSat |
| Units or mass | 3U |
| Organisation | MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
| Institution | University |
| Entity | Academic / Education |
| Nation | US |
| Manufacturer | AIVT by Blue Canyon |
| Launch brokerer | NASA CSLI / ELaNa |
| Oneliner |
Demonstrate the optical crosslink. |
| Description |
Demonstrate the optical crosslink, which is the focus of this work. Two 3U full-duplex laser communication terminals capable of supporting data rates of up to 20 Mbps at separations from 25 km to 580 km. Simultaneously send and receive signals from distances up to 360 miles. With this full-duplex laser communications capability, the CubeSats can exchange more data at once than current satellites of this size. Using the same laser system, the pair also will precisely measure their distance and relative position from each other. These capabilities will aid future communications relays, distributed missions, and constellations or formations of these low-cost satellites around science-rich locations and exploration targets like the Moon. |
| Sources | [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] |
| Photo sources | [1] [2] [3] [4] |
| COTS subsystems |
|
| Subsystems sources | [1] |
| Keywords | Laser transmitter |
Related Spacecraft
| Spacecraft | Status | Launcher | Launch date | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLICK A (CubeSat Laser Infrared CrosslinK, CLICK-A) | Reentry 2023-04-01. Was operational? (One confirmation on Twitter on 2022-09-06 as of 2022-12-20) | Falcon 9, (ELaNa 45), (CRS-25) | 2022-07-15 | 400 km, 51.6 deg, ISS |
| CLICK B (CubeSat Laser Infrared CrosslinK, CLICK-B) | not launched | not launched | 2025-03-30 | not launched |
| CLICK C (CubeSat Laser Infrared CrosslinK, CLICK-C) | not launched | not launched | 2025-03-30 | not launched |
Last modified: 2024-05-29
