Demonstrating Intra-Spacecraft Optical Wireless Links

In a Spacecraft (SC), a huge amount of cabled electrical connections is needed by many different units to exchange digital data. This increases the overall mass, the space occupancy, and the routing design time. Here, we propose and demonstrate an Optical Wireless Communication (OWC) system that can perfectly replace the MIL cables inside the SC, providing wireless communication among the satellite units, with full backward compatibility with pre-existing units and protocols. We present the experimental demonstration in the challenging environment of a populated mockup of a real SC, where we connect four different units and exploit the Non Line-of-Sight (NLOS) configuration, i.e. take advantage of the scattering from the walls to overcome the shadowing effects. This OWC technique can effectively reduce the overall weight (more than 50%) and cost of the SC data network. The proposed transceivers are based on a transparent, fully analog solution and are made of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) components, with features compatible with the space environment. The on-field experiment shows that this is a practical solution for the data networks in future SCs.