Photonics for the space environment

Photonics in the form of diode and diode pumped solid state lasers, and other optical systems have been proposed and have found deployment in the space environment. Space here refers to both the satellites orbiting the earth and deep space probes sent to planets beyond earth. Although there are numerous applications for optical systems in space, we present a review of photonics used for high speed communication both within and between satellites in the immediate vicinity of Earth.